Of Love and Fate
by souna no hime
Summary: Haruka's younger sister returns to Japan and enters Juuban High. Upon his sister's return,Haruka's past began haunting him,while his sister discovers her own past and identity. Conflict arises when they discover who the other is. Male Haruka. revised. ON HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

Of love and Fate

souna no miko

Summary: Haruka's younger sister returns to Japan and enters Juuban High. Upon his sister's return, Haruka's past began haunting him, while his sister discovers her own past. Conflict arises when they discover who the other is. (Haruka is male here people so please don't be confused.)

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all original characters mentioned in this story is owned by the great Takeuchi Naoko. There is no way I would claim them as my own. The song/s that will be used as part of the story are not mine either, they are owned by their respective writers and singers.

Prologue

A woman about 16-18 years old with long black hair and wearing a powder blue halter gown stands above a tall building. She stares down in horror as she watches the slow destruction of the earth. Not far away from her she sees two women with wings floating in the air. The woman her self suddenly grew wings and for some odd reason she wants to see what was going on and so she flies closer to where the two other women are. She lands on a building standing a few feet from the battle. She sees a woman in black armor with black wings. The other woman is in a white gown with white wings and her hair tied in two odangos _(1)_. Below she sees three other women dressed in what she presumes as black bikinis and high cut boots. She watches as the two airborne women fight it out. Just when the battle is about to end, a flash of purple light flashed before her eyes and soon she found herself standing in a desolate land.

She clasps her hands together in a praying position as tears kept flowing down her eyes. She opens her mouth to speak but soon her surroundings changes. The flowers slowly wither as darkness consumes the sky. She stretches her arms for salvation but the ground crumbles beneath her. Soon she finds herself falling into nothingness...

"AAHH!!" a girl with short golden brown hair shouted as she fell off the edge of her bed.

'Ooh I hate nightmares.' The girl thought to herself as she rubbed her painful back.

Then the phone rang.

"Hello?"

There was silence as the girl listened to the other line.

"Yes of course! I'd love too!" She finally exclaimed in excitement.

**Chapter 1**

**Haruka, cheating?!**

Usagi and Minako were on their way to crown to meet up with the others when they saw Haruka with another woman. The woman looked like she was around their age and she looked a lot like Haruka, only a foot shorter. She was wearing a baby blue tank top and khaki short shorts. Minako immediately grabbed Usagi and dragged her to the nearest ally.

"Did you see that Usagi?! Haruka's with another woman. I bet he's cheating on poor Michiru." Minako exclaimed.

Usagi's eyes grew big in shock and replied,

"You think so? But he can't do that! I mean they've been together for such a long time now. Maybe you're thinking too much Minako. After all she does look like him. She might be his sister or something."

They looked again and as if on cue, they saw Haruka coming out of a gift shop and handed a huge-ass teddy bear to the girl in question. In return the girl smiled and kissed him on the cheeks.

"Sister huh?! Since when do brothers buy their sisters huge-ass teddy bears and lets their sister kiss them??"

"You're mean Mina. My little brother buys me gifts."

"Yeah but does he let you kiss him?"

The blonde meatball head thought for awhile and said,

"Uhm..no..he hates it.."

"See?!"

"I guess you have a point there but still..."

"Come on Usagi...We'll follow them and when we have enough evidence, we'll catch him and tell Michiru!"

So again, Minako grabbed Usagi by the wrist and dragged her around, following Haruka and his new 'girl'. Then at one time the girl turned around, Minako panicked and pulled Usagi behind a mailbox.

"Whew that was close..but I think she already saw us..come on Usagi we have to go to Michiru before he gets home."

Poor Usagi was yet again dragged by her crazy friend and was shoved inside a cab by the same girl.

"Mina you're mean. It hurts you know." Usagi finally complained.

"Quit whining and just get on with the show."

After forty-five minutes they finally arrived at the Tenou manor. Minako let out a sigh of relief when she noticed that the car was not yet in the garage.

"Great he's not yet here. Come on let's go." Minako said.

Usagi pushed the doorbell and soon Michiru came out wearing a sea green racer back shirt and white mini-skirt underneath a pastel pink apron.

"Oh hello girls, it's nice for you to visit. Come in, you know where the living room is. I'm baking so could you just go there yourselves. I'll be out with a batch of freshly baked cookies in a minute." Michiru said as she ushered the girls inside their house.

"But Michiru.." Minako started as she followed Michiru into the kitchen.

Usagi went to the living room only to find Haruka sitting on his favorite armchair reading the afternoon paper with a cup of tea on the center table.

"Haruka?" Usagi asked.

Haruka lifted his head and looked at Usagi, a bit surprised.

"Moon Face? What are you doing here? You surprised me. Come take a seat."

Usagi sat on the couch across Haruka, fiddling with her fingers nervously.

"What brings you here? Any problem?" Haruka asked as he picked up his tea cup

"Well.." Usagi started but before she could say anything else, a loud scream was heard from behind Haruka, which caused him to spill some of his tea on his lap.

"H-h-haruka??!! What the hell are you doing here?!" Minako exclaimed.

"Uh..I live here remember?" Haruka replied quite annoyed with the question. "Michiru, could you get a towel for me please?" Haruka exclaimed.

"I-I mean what are you doing here..so..uh..fast..?" Minako said, her last few words trailing.

"Did you know that a motorcycle is hell of a lot faster than a taxi? And with its smaller body it can maneuver through traffic and allies." a voice coming from the top of the stairs said matter-of-factly.

Minako and Usagi looked up and saw the same girl they saw earlier wearing a powder blue tube top and white mini-shorts drying her hair with a towel. The girl went down the stairs, walked towards Haruka, and threw the towel at him.

"You can use that for wiping the table. It's old and I'm about to throw it anyway. Oh and by the way blondie, incase you're still wondering, the car is broken, it's been in the repair shop since yesterday." The girl said as she sat on the right arm rest of Haruka's arm chair.

Again, Minako let out a loud scream. The girl covered her ears as Haruka clenched his fists.

"Whoa girl easy on the decibels, you bring out quite a ringer damn it." The girl exclaimed.

Michiru came out in a hurry when she heard the scream.

"What's up? That's the second time Mina screamed. Anything wrong?" Michiru asked.

"Everything's wrong!" Minako exclaimed as she turned to Haruka, "You cheater! How could you do this to Michiru?! And you even brought her here! The nerve Haruka, the nerve! How could you ??!!"

Haruka blinked in and asked,

"How could I, what??"

The girl suddenly stood up and asked Michiru,

"Michi, are the cookies done already?"

"Yes, why?" Michiru asked.

The girl grinned mischievously and replied,

"This could take a while"

Minako started shaking her head saying 'no' over and over again. Finally she shouted,

"What the hell is going on in here? Michiru! Why are you being nice with her?? You even let her call you 'Michi'!"

"What the fuck are you talking about Minako?! And could you lower your voice? It's beginning to get on my nerves." Haruka finally said in a very pissed tone.

The girl sighed as she ran her hand through her short golden brown hair,

"Calm down Ruka. This is the reason I wanted to go home. While we we're walking I sensed somebody following us. When I turned around I saw her meatball head peaking out of a mailbox." The girl said as she pointed at Usagi.

Minako shot a dagger look at Usagi, blaming her for what happened, but the girl continued and pointed at her,

"And her red bow."

Usagi looked at Minako with a 'you-were-saying-smart-ass?' look plastered on her face.

"I figured what was going on with those head of theirs when the one with the bow dragged meatball head away. After that I asked you if we could go home. I wanted to get here first before they could." The girl ended with a grin.

Haruka shifted his attention to the two blonde girls standing across him, folded his arms across his chest and asked,

"And what exactly were you thinking?"

The two girls fell silent, not knowing how to say things.

"Moon Face?" Haruka asked again.

"Well, Minako thought...I mean, we thought that you are cheating on Michiru so..." Usagi trailed as Minako exclaimed once again,

"And you are damn it! How could you do this to Michiru??"

Haruka and Michiru looked at each other and there was silence.

"I'll...go get the cookies..." the girl finally said which broke the silence as she went into the kitchen.

"So let me get this straight, you thought that I was.." at this point Haruka was already trying his best to hold back his laughter, "and she was.." Haruka couldn't keep it anymore and so started laughing uncontrollably.

Michiru folded her arms and said,

"Mina, you have a wide imagination."

"N-NANI??_(2)_"

"Tea and cookies anyone?" the girl asked as she girl comes out of the kitchen with a tray containing a plate of chocolate chip cookies, five slices of lemon cake, four empty teacups and a ceramic kettle full of hot tea.

Haruka stopped laughing, stood up and placed both hands on the girl's shoulder as he stood behind her.

"Look, look! He's touching her!" Minako exclaimed.

Haruka sighed and said,

"I want you to meet Haruko, she's my..."

Usagi gasped and exclaimed,

"Kusou _(3)_. I knew it, she's your..."

"She's your girlfriend!" Minako butted in.

"Shut up Mina! Can't you still get it? I mean, the hair, the emerald green eyes, and the name. She's..she's Haruka's sister!" Usagi exclaimed.

Michiru slapped her forehead and said,

"Finally!"

Minako blinked and asked,

"You mean she's not..."

"Uh-huh" Michiru replied with a nod.

"And they're not..."

"Uh-uh" Usagi replied as she shook her head.

"And they're just..."

"Uh-huh" Haruka said with a nod.

Minako froze and started to blush furiously.

"Go-go-gomene, I didn't mean to..."

"It's okay. It was an honest mistake. Because let's face it, I might look a lot like my brother but we do look like lovers sometimes...so yeah, it's really okay with me. Don't worry , iight?" Haruko butted in.

"Right." Minako replied with a smile shy.

"Now we can have a do over." Haruko smiled as she stepped back, bowed and said, "Konichiwa, watashiwa Tenou Haruko desu! Haruka's younger sister." _("Hello, I'm Tenou Haruko!")_

Minako bowed and replied,

"Yoroshiku onegai shitemasu. Watashiwa Aino Minako desu!" _("Pleased to meet you. I'm Aino Minako!")_

"And the other one is moon face.." Haruka said pointing at the meatball haired girl next to Minako.

"Haruka I already asked you to stop calling me that!!!" Usagi exclaimed in her usual chibi-form.

Haruko giggled.

"Oh come on kitty I know you like it when I call you names." Haruka teased as everybody stifled a laugh.

"My name is Tsukino Usagi...NOT 'moon face' or 'kitty' or 'meatball head'! I am Usagi, TSUKINO USAGI!!!!! " Usagi exclaimed at the top of her lungs.

Everybody blinked in shock at Usagi's sudden outburst.

"Go-Go-Gomenasai minna-san." _(I'm sorry everyone.")_ Usagi said afterwards, her face flushed

Everybody laughed as they all sat down to chat until Haruka told Usagi and Minako that his sister will be going to Juuban High for the coming school year which will start the next day.

"Hontoni?! _(4)_ Which class would you be in??" Minako asked the younger Tenou.

Haruko looked at Haruka for an answer. Haruka smiled, look at Minako and replied.

"I arranged everything with the principal and he agreed. My sister will be in your class, Mina-chan."

"Get out!!! You serious?!" Minako exclaimed.

"Hai._(5)_ She'll be in 2A just like all of you." Haruka replied.

"This is sooo cool!!!" Minako said excitedly.

"You know Mina, you should thank me for that." Michiru suddenly butted in.

"Nani? Why?" Usagi asked.

"Nande Michiru-chan?" _("Why Michiru?")_ Minako followed.

"Well.." Michiru started as she stood up and walked behind Haruka's armchair. Placing both hands on Haruka's head, keeping it steady, the outer water senshi(6) continued, "Mr. Protective here didn't want to enroll his dear beloved sister in a public school. He wanted his sister to suffer in a private all girls' catholic school."

The two blondes gasped and said,

"No, you wouldn't!"

"How cruel! Even Rei is transferring this year from her old private catholic school."

Michiru giggled and continued her "short story of cruelty".

"Yep...I told him the same thing, Haruko was also there to plead her..uhmm..release from the "hell" she was about to experience. I on the other hand gave him the option to send Haruko to Juuban High, because you and most of the girls are there, but again, Mr. Stubborn-as-a-mouse didn't agree with us."

"So what did you do Mi-chan?" Usagi asked.

Haruko giggled and asked Michiru if she could continue the story, which she was allowed to do.

"Michi looked at me and winked, I knew then what to do." Haruko looked at her dear brother who, at that time, was already beginning to blush.

"Michi and I pouted, brought out our big puppy dog eyes, shed a few tears and started pleading." Haruko continued.

"Less than a minute later he agreed. The now patented 'MichiHaru way-to-get-whatever-you-want-in-less-than-a-minute-face routine' has won again over the walking popsicle that is Tenou Haruka!" Michiru concluded as everybody in the room started laughing.

Haruka, whose face is now colored in ten shades of red escaped Michiru's hold on his head and exclaimed,

"Urusai!!!!!!"

The four girls laughed even louder as they started teasing the so-called 'unbreakable' Tenou Haruka until the two girls had to go home.

_Tsuzuku…_

Author's Note:

I was flamed before for not putting translations of the Japanese words and sentences I use in my story so now I make it a point to put translations of words at the bottom and translations of sentences beside the Japanese sentence…so here's Japanese 101 for those who aren't familiar with basic words…if I missed any feel free to point it out to me…hope it helps..o(^^)o

(1) odangos = meatballs

(2) Nani? = what?

(3) Kusou = shit, damn…well basically it's one of their swear words…xD

(4) Hontoni? = Really?

(5) Hai = yes

(6) senshi = soldier

Tsuzuku roughly means 'to be continued'….^^

Oh and I won't be translating the same word every chapter so I hope you'll all remember them…^^

I'm not an expert on nihonggo and I just know a few basic phrases and words, in addition to that I consult my uncle about the translations of some words that I'm not at least 99% sure…so if I made any mistake I'm sorry, tell me and I'll correct it accordingly…:p


	2. Chapter 2

Of love and Fate

souna no miko

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all original characters mentioned in this story is owned by the great Takeuchi Naoko. There is no way I would claim them as my own. The song/s that will be used as part of the story are not mine either, they are owned by their respective writers and singers.

Chapter 2

**Seiya's Dismay**

The next day at the three lights' apartment, Yaten Kou and Taiki Kou were getting ready for school. As for Seiya Kou,

"What are you still doing in your ridiculous ducky patterned pajamas?! It's 7:40 and incase you've forgotten our class starts in half an hour!!!" Taiki exclaimed when Seiya came out of his room looking fresh out of bed.

"I changed my mind, I'm not going back. I don't want to go back." Seiya replied.

"Say what?! But we already talked about this haven't we?!" Taiki exclaimed again.

"I know, demou (1)...It's only been two months and..well..it just doesn't seem right." Seiya replied, avoiding Taiki's glares.

"Enough of this crap Seiya Kou! We already decided to live normal lives despite what has happened to her!" Yaten butted in with a very pissed tone.

Seiya looked at Yaten lazily and said,

"This is not our "normal" world, so how do you expect me to live a "normal" life?"

Yaten, suppressing his anger, looked straight into Seiya's eyes and replied in the most calm voice he could come up with,

"You were able to do that for almost a year while we were looking for her. This isn't any different."

"Oh yes it's different. Back then we knew she was alive. We had lots of hope that we'll see her again, but now we don't. We have nothing." Seiya said as he looked away.

Yaten, now losing all his patience, grabbed the taller man by his collar and said,

"You listen to me and you listen to me well. Whether you like it or not this is our world now, our home. This is where we live, this is where we will die and no matter what you do, no matter how much you hide or run away from that reality, you can never change that anymore; neither the fact that she's dead. She's been dead for two months now Seiya, Kakyuu-hime (2) is dead and will you please put some super-glue on that fact so it'll stick on your pathetic little brain! 'Cause I'm really tired of going through this talk over and over again damn it!"

"You sound like you've forgotten everything. It's as if she didn't die SAVING US! Damn you Yaten, if you can easily forget that then, you're not a true guardian. You're worthless!" Seiya replied as he removed Yaten's hands off of him.

"Fuck you Seiya, don't you dare call me worthless because as far as I know there's only one guardian who's worthless and that's you!" the platinum haired bishounen (3) exclaimed.

Seiya was about to hit Yaten on the face when Taiki caught his fist and said,

"Enough is enough! Both of you. You said it yourself Yaten, we don't have to go through this shit again."

Taiki looked at Yaten and ordered,

"Go fetch his uniform."

"Nani?!" Yaten asked.

"Just go get it!" Taiki ordered.

Yaten walked away muttering to himself as Taiki turned to Seiya and said,

"Is this what you've become Seiya, a blind guardian because his princess passed away? You were someone else...no...You ARE someone else than what you've shown us today." Taiki placed both hands on Seiya's shoulder and continued. "You used to be calm, responsible and clear headed. Those were your traits, which made you what you are today, our leader. I know you're stronger than this and besides, you're the one who has forgotten."

"What??" Seiya asked

"You've forgotten Princess Kakyuu's final words..."

And with that, everything flashed in Seiya's mind, including his princess' final words.

_Princess Kakyuu stood in front of them, taking in the energy ball Galaxia threw at their direction. She turned her head to face the three starlights and said,_

"_My dear starlights, my friends, and my guardians. I know you'll win this battle and live happily on this planet. Protect the ones you believe you must protect but when she arrives, return to her. When you finally meet her you will be able to laugh at all the pain you've encountered and will encounter in the future. Life may be cruel but remember that every sad ending is the start of a bright new and happier beginning. Look for her and protect her as you would me. Live a normal life and stay by her side for as long as you live."_

Tears flowed from Seiya's eyes as he remembered.

"Sou dane ("That's right"), I did forget. I was blinded by her death and have forgotten what she said. I'm sorry Taiki-san" Seiya said.

Yaten came out from Seiya's room and heard what Seiya said and replied,

"Good, now get ready 'cause we're running out of time. We'll be freakin' late!"

"Sure." Seiya replied with a smile as he took his uniform from Yaten.

The three lights left their apartment for school at 7:50.

_Tsuzuku…_

A/N:

(1) demou = but

(2) hime = princess

(3) bishounen = beautiful young boy


	3. Chapter 3

Of love and Fate

souna no miko

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all original characters mentioned in this story is owned by the great Takeuchi Naoko. There is no way I would claim them as my own. The song/s that will be used as part of the story are not mine either, they are owned by their respective writers and singers.

**Chapter 3**

**First day...Funk??**

Aino Minako and Kinou Makoto were already inside the classroom waiting for the others to come when the three lights entered the room with their hair messed up and their uniforms distorted.

"Yaten, Taiki, Seiya! Alright we're classmates again!" Minako screamed.

Yaten leaned closer to Taiki and whispered,

"Oh man, are we really in the same class with that girl again??"

"Looks like it, better deal with it Yaten." Taiki replied with a chuckle.

"Pfft. I know you missed her Yaten so don't deny it anymore man!" Seiya added as he softly elbowed Yaten on the ribs.

"Urusai Seiya-teme!" ("Shut up Seiya, you bastard!"(1)) Yaten exclaimed.

"Come on Yaten. Why don't you just admit that you've got a huge-ass crush on Mina-chan?" Seiya teased.

"I said shut the fuck up Seiya." Yaten replied.

Seiya continued laughing as he found a desk on the second row beside the window.

Makoto stepped up and asked,

"What happened to you guys? It's like you've been ran over by a herd of hippos."

"We passed by the first year corridors and, well, things got out of hand." Taiki replied as he sat on a desk in the third row.

"Well that's a mistake." Makoto commented.

"That was not a mistake Kinou, that was stupidity! I already warned the guys not to pass through the first year corridor but did they listen? Noooooo...and now look at us! Sheez I swear those freshmen could've eaten us alive if they wanted to!" Yaten suddenly exclaimed.

The gang laughed as Yaten made funny youkai(2) sounds, they were a bit surprised at Yaten because he was never this crazy before. Yaten stopped his antics when a voice called out his name and said,

"Exaggeration was never a good thing and acting has never been your talent either, you should stick to singing. What has gotten into you anyway Yaten-san?"

They all turned to the front door of the room and saw Mizuno Ami with Hino Rei standing by her side.

"Rei what are you doing here?! And why are you wearing our school's uniform??" Seiya asked.

"I talked with grandpa and he told me that I can transfer here in Juuban High, so, well here I am!" Rei replied with a smile.

"Welcome to Juuban High then Hino Rei." Taiki said.

"Thanks." Rei replied with a slight blush on her cheeks as she found a desk in the first row infront of Seiya.

Ami placed her things on a desk beside Taiki and added,

"That's not all, I heard we have a new class adviser, a new Arts teacher and a new physics teacher as well."

"What is wrong with the world today? Yaten goes crazy and Ami with the hottest gossip!" Minako exclaimed.

Everybody laughed at Yaten and Ami sweat dropped.

"Anyway, do you know who they are Ami?" Makoto asked.

"I have no idea. Only thing I know is our class adviser will be our Arts teacher as well and that she's a, well a 'she' and our Physics teacher is a 'he'. " Ami replied.

"I bet she's a mean old hag with long gray hair tied in a bun and wrinkles all over her face." Yaten said. They all laughed when all of a sudden the doors slid open and a young woman, probably in her early 20's, wearing a black blouse on top of a khaki pants entered the room and said,

"Exaggeration was never a good thing Mr. Yaten Kou, and incase you're still looking for a mean old hag for a teacher then you are most welcome to transfer to sections B,D,F,H,or J where in Mrs. Yeshakura is."

They all turned to their new teacher only to see Meioh Setsuna standing with a few books in her hand when the school bell suddenly rang.

"Okay everybody find your seats and settle down." Setsuna ordered.

"Psst Minako! Where's Usagi?" Rei asked

Minako looked at Rei and just smiled.

"Come on don't tell me you didn't wake her up! She'll be late again; it's the first day of school for crying out loud!" Rei asked again.

Minako just made a face as she sat on the desk beside Rei and Yaten sat behind Seiya. Makoto was about to take a sit beside Seiya when Setsuna called her attention.

"Ms. Kinou, if it's okay with you, I want you to sit beside Ms. Aino." Setsuna said as Makoto followed. After a few minutes she ordered the class to settle down as she continued, "I am Ms. Meioh Setsuna but you can call me Ms. Setsuna if you want to. I am your new class adviser and your new Arts teacher as well. I am still a student like yourselves and this is my part time job. I'm lucky to have been given this opportunity to be here. Later this afternoon, after your lunch break you will meet your new Physics teacher, Mr. Chiiba Mamoru."

'Oh great, now Mamoru's my teacher.' Seiya thought to himself.

After a few more reminders, Setsuna was about to start her roll call when they heard somebody knocking, the class monitor opened the door and saw their principal. Setsuna smiled, faced the class and said,

"Your ner classmate has finally arrived."

Usagi entered the class with Haruko trailing behind her.

"Ohayou minna-san ("Goodmorning everyone"). This is our new classmate." Usagi started as Haruko wrote her own name on the black board.

Then Haruko faced the class, bowed in respect, smiled and said,

"Goodmorning. Watashiwa namae Haruko, Tenou Haruko." ("Goodmorning. My name is Haruko, Tenou Haruko.")

"Haruka?? What the hell are you doing here? And what are you doing in a girl's uniform? I never imagined you swung that way!" Seiya suddenly blurted out as he jumped out from his desk.

Usagi blinked in shock, Setsuna stifled a laugh and Minako started a giggling fit. Haruko was also surprised but she just smiled and said,

"Gomene_(3)_, demou, I'm not Haruka, that would be my aniki_(4)_ and no, my brother does not swing that way."

A big sweat drop appeared on Seiya's head as he turned into chibi form saying,

"Go-go-gomenasai!(5)."

The whole class started laughing.

"Okay class; settle down, that would be enough. Ms Tenou, Ms. Tsukino please take your seats." Setsuna said after a few minutes.

Haruko took the desk beside Seiya and Usagi sat beside her.

That afternoon when the bell finally rang for lunch, the girls, together with the three lights, headed to the big old tree near the quadrangle to eat.

"So Haruka's your brother huh?" Rei asked as she brought out her bento.

"Hai! The one and only." Haruko replied with a big smile across her pretty face.

"You really do look alike; it'll be hard to tell you apart. You sure you're not twins?" Seiya asked.

"Nope he was born a year before me and besides I'm a foot shorter than he is so it would be really very easy to tell which one is which." Haruko replied with a giggle.

"So which club are you planning to sign up for? I mean it's the first day of school and it's the start of registrations for any school org." Makoto asked.

"Hmm..I dunno yet, but I think I'd like to try the volleyball team, the school paper and the literature club. Oh and the drama guild too, if I still have enough time. How 'bout you guys?" Haruko replied as she took a bite off of her onigiri(6), which Michiru made for her that morning.

"I'm in the culinary arts club. Minako's the Volleyball team's captain and Ami's the computer club's president and a member of Literature club." Makoto replied.

"Get out! Really? Oh cool, but what about you guys?" Haruko asked, obviously referring to Rei, Usagi and the three lights.

"I'll be joining the sprint team" Rei answered.

"Hey that'll be cool." Haruko replied as she shifted her attention to the three lights.

Taiki cleared his throat and replied.

"I'm in the Literature club too with Ami. Seiya's with the American Football team and Yaten's in the Home Coming committee."

"Hmm...Looks like Seiya's the sporty one, being the jock and all, Taiki's the book lover and Yaten..Yaten's the 'I'll-do-anything-as-long-as-it's-not-tiring-and-I-won't-get-sweaty' kind of guy." Haruko commented as she continued eating her onigiri.

Everybody almost choked on their food because of what Haruko said. Haruko just blinked innocently, not realizing that she was dead pan right on her analysis. Then she turned to Usagi and asked,

"Ne Usa-chan, what about you?"

"I don't belong to any but I guess I'll try something this year." Usagi replied.

"Yeah, like the Science club!" Minako teased.

The whole gang started teasing Usagi as Minako explained to Haruko that Usagi and their new Physics teacher are in fact, a couple. They stopped teasing when they saw Mamoru and a girl with long jet black hair with an oddly familiar face walking towards them.

"Hey Usa-ko, hey girls, three lights." Mamoru greeted.

"Konichiwa Mamoru-sensei!" (Hello teacher Mamoru!) The girls shouted in chorus.

"Haha very funny." Mamoru retorted with a smirk and continued, "Anyway, girls, this is Sou Calliope, she's from my class, 2-C and she's new. I hope you could help her adjust." Mamoru said.

Usagi immediately stood up, clung to Mamuro's arm, glared at the girl and said in a warning voice,

"He's mine, understood?"

"I know he is, and I have no intention of taking him away from you..." Calliope said with a smile. "...princess" Calliope continued under her breath as her smile turned into a smirk.

"What did you call me?" Usagi asked.

"I called you Usagi." Calliope smiled once again.

"I thought you said something else. Anyway, Mamo-koi, this is Tenou Haruko, she's new too and she's with me in 2-A." Usagi said.

Haruko stood up, bowed in respect and held out a hand.

"She's Haruka's sister." Rei added.

Mamoru looked straight into her eyes as she shook the girl's hand and asked,

"Is she?"

Haruko can't explain but her heart ran faster and felt a certain connection with Mamoru. She removed her hand before she feels anything else.

"Well now, I'll be leaving Calliope with you. I still have some things to finish before our class, see you later!" Mamoru said as he walked away.

A few minutes later and the bell rang which ended their lunch break. They went back to their class and got ready for Physics.

_Tsuzuku…_

A/N:

(1) Teme is usually translated to bastard and is usually affixed on a name to insult the

person…so 'Urusai Seiya-teme' roughly translates to 'Shut up Seiya, you bastard.'

(2) youkai = once a lost soul that was turned into a monster/demon through time and/or

transfer of power

(3) Gomene = a variation of gomenasai

(4) aniki = older brother

(5) Gomensai = I'm sorry/ Sorry

(6) onigiri = a Japanese snack that's made of rice and nori, usually also known as rice

balls.


	4. Chapter 4

Of love and Fate

souna no miko

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all original characters mentioned in this story is owned by the great Takeuchi Naoko. There is no way I would claim them as my own. The song/s that will be used as part of the story are not mine either, they are owned by their respective writers and singers.

A/N and additional disclaimer: By the way…during the course of writing this fic I came across other fics that featured a sailor earth as well..I don't have anything to do with those fan-fics and I haven't read any of them..I was surprised that I wasn't the only person who thought of making a sailor earth..but come to think of it it's not far-fetched for people to create such a soldier because Earth is the only planet that has no protector/bishoujou senshi (beautiful young girl soldier) in the series because of the existence of Mamoru which is considered as the protector of earth. I hope none of the other authors who thought of Sailor Earth would get mad at me because I honestly had no idea about theirs…so In that note…let's just enjoy this version, alright? ^^

Chapter 4

**The Soldier of Fate: Sailor Earth**

"And that's all for today. Remember to bring your calculators and protractors tomorrow." A man in his late twenty's said as the bell rang, not just to end Trigonometry class, but to dismiss the class for the day.

"Whew! It's enough that we have Physics right after lunch and now we have trigonometry with Mr. Mizuhara as our last subject! This sucks..." Minako said as she stretched her arms.

The gang laughed as they gathered their things and went out the classroom together.

"So where do we go from here?" Rei asked.

"I'm going to go with Haruko. She's trying out for the team today." Minako replied.

"I'm off to football practice." Seiya added.

"I'll be in the library." Taiki said.

"Can I come with you Taiki? I have to research about the binary code." Ami asked with a slight blush on her cheeks.

"Sure, no problem." Taiki answered with a blush equal to Ami's

"How about you guys?" Minako suddenly asked.

"We don't have any after class schedule yet so I guess we'll just hang-out." Rei replied.

"Wait, where's Usagi?" Makoto asked.

"Duh! It's pretty obvious don't you think? She went to the faculty room the moment Mr. Mizuhara dismissed us." Minako answered as everyone nodded.

"And you?" Seiya asked Yaten.

Yaten smirked and replied,

"I'm going home."

"Suit yourself Yaten." Seiya surrendered.

They each said their good-byes and soon parted ways. The volleyball try-outs lasted until 6 in the evening.

"You were great Haruko! I'm sure you'd get in..well..I'LL make sure you get in." Minako said with a wink as they both walk out of the locker room.

"Mina! Don't do that! I want to get in because of my skills and not because of my connections." Haruko whined.

"I was just kidding Haruko! Of course I won't do that!" Minako replied with a giggle.

Both girls laughed as they walked towards Juuban High's main gate.

"So how are you going to go home? Is Haruka going to fetch you?" Minako asked as they walk out the gates.

"Nah. The car's broken remember? And besides aniki's a bit busy these days." Haruko replied.

"Oh. You sure? I could walk you home if you want to." Minako offered.

"Hai! I'm perfectly fine. I kinda memorized the way to school when Usagi fetched me this morning; all I have to do is retrace my steps, right? And besides I lived here until I was ten before my brother sent me to America, I think I still know my way around the neighborhood." Haruko replied with a smile.

"Sou dane. Well then, this is my street, see you tomorrow Haruko!" Minako said as she walked away.

Haruko walked on the opposite street when a black portal opened behind her. A woman in a black haltered gown with a red sash on her waist came out of it and pushed Haruko on the wall.

"Good evening princess, how nice of you to drop by. Hand me the crystal and I shall assure you a quick and painless death." The woman said with a smirk a she pinned Haruko on the wall.

"What the hell are you talking about? I have no idea what you're talking about! Who the hell are you anyway?!"

The woman laughed an eerie laugh and said,

"I am Erisia, daughter of Hades servant of Queen Akashtra! But you can call me Eris, on the account of the informal situation. Now give me the crystal or DIE!"

"What crystal? Who's Akashtra? What are you talking about??" Haruko asked as she squirmed from Eris's grip. Soon Eris stepped back, but before she could run, Eris lifted her in the air and sent a coil of fire to surround her body. Tongues of fire licked Haruko's flesh and slowly burned her uniform. She shouted in agony every time the fire touched her. Before she could pass out she heard a gentle voice which said,

"My dear Soldier of Fate, open your eyes and look into your past. Take this and be the soldier that you truly are."

Haruko opened her eyes and saw a lavender transformation item infront of her, problem is, it's outside the coils. She tried to stick her hand through the coils and despite the burning flame she managed to reach it. The voice spoke again and said,

"Now say these words, 'Earth Star Power, Make Up!' "

Haruko did as she was told and soon lavender ribbons shot out from the item and enveloped her whole body. The coils of fire disappeared and so did her wounds. A sailor fuku(1) replaced her school fuku and a lavender mini skirt appeared in place of her long school skirt. A lavender ribbon formed on her chest and a lavender transparent glass star appeared on its center. Finally a gold tiara with a lavender jewel on its center formed on her forehead.

Eris stood in amazement as she watched the girl transform into a soldier of the white moon.

"What am I??" Haruko asked the moment her transformation was complete.

The voice spoke once again and said,

"You are a soldier of love and justice, guardian of the palace of the white moon."

"And who are you?" Haruko asked again.

A beautiful ethereal woman with platinum hair dressed in a long white tube gown appeared before her and said,

"I am Queen Serenity of the White Moon. I am your Queen and so trust in what I say."

Eris threw a fireball towards Queen Serenity, but Haruko acted at once,

"Deep Harmony!"

Two big water balls appeared and destroyed Eris's attack immediately.

"Kusou. " Eris cursed.

Haruko blinked and looked at Queen Serenity and asked,

"H-how did I--?"

Queen Serenity smiled and replied,

"That was your instinct; your heart knew the words and the emotions needed for you to perform your attack. That is a true indication that YOU are what Isay you are."

Haruko turned to Eris, closed her eyes, cast her arms up in the sky and said in a strong stern voice,

"I still don't understand who or what I am supposed to be but my heart is screaming. It's telling me that you are a threat to my very existence and to hers as well and because of that, I shall erase you from this planet!"

She opened her eyes and exclaimed,

"Eternal Hell!"

A fire rope formed in Sailor Earth's hand and she controlled it to catch Eris. Sailor Earth let the rope of fire wrap around Eris, burning her into ashes. To say Haruko was surprised would be the understatement of the year; she stared down on her hands wondering that the heck just happened. Queen Serenity walked towards her and placed a hand on her right shoulder.

Haruko can't explain it but something in her made her take a step away from Queen Serenity and kneel down. Queen Serenity was surprised but she just smiled and nodded at Haruko.

"I am glad that your heart still recognizes me as your Queen. Haruko.." Queen Serenity stretched her hand and touched the lavender jewel on Haruko's tiara. The tiara vanished and on its place, on the center of Haruko's forehead was the symbol of Earth, glowing in a lavender color. "That symbol on your forehead is enough to tell everybody who you are, but it will also bring you troubles from now on." Queen Serenity continued.

"Then it's a curse...?" Haruko asked as she looked at the ethereal being in front of her.

"No my dear child. I wish for you not to think that way. It's not a curse, but a gift. With it, you shall find what your heart desires."

"What. My. Heart. Desires...?"

"In time my dear child, in time. Everything shall come to you when 'she' feels that you are ready. But for now, remember to be alert of the dangers lurking in the shadows around you. Trust no one but yourself and the people whom your heart trusts. Listen to your heart Haruko, always listen to your heart and be brave my dear Earth Princess, I shall always be watching you and the others."

And with that, Queen Serenity slowly faded away.

"'She? Who's 'she'? What Earth princess? Who are the 'others'? Please don't go! I need to know more! Onegai Serenity-sama! "

Haruko tried to reach for Queen Serenity's hand but it was too late, Queen Serenity has disappeared. Tears flowed down Haruko's cheek as she slowly lost her transformation. In her palm was the lavender transformation item Queen Serenity gave her. She held it close to her heart and after a few minutes, she stood up and walked home.

Questions lingered in her head but there were no answers to either one of them. She remembered a story that her brother used to tell her to put her to sleep; A story about a moon princess and her soldiers. She had always thought that that story was pathetic so she never paid any attention to it, but her heart kept on telling her that she needed to hear the story one more time. She has to hear the story, which her brother called as the 'Galaxy Myth' for her to find her real place in this planet called Earth.

_Tsuzuku…_

A/N:

(1) fuku = uniform


	5. Chapter 5 part 1

Of love and Fate

souna no miko

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all original characters mentioned in this story is owned by the great Takeuchi Naoko. There is no way I would claim them as my own. The song/s that will be used as part of the story are not mine either, they are owned by their respective writers and singers.

A/N: I'm cutting this chapter into two parts because it's kind of long…xD

**Chapter 5 (part 1)**

**Haunted by the Past**

When Haruko got home, she went straight to bed and missed dinner. It bothered Haruka for a while until Michiru was able to convince him that his sister is probably tired from her first day of school.

That night on the other room beside Haruko's, her brother was past asleep. He was dreaming of the moon palace, Prince Endymion and The Moon Princess. However, of all the celebrations of the past, he was dreaming of the day he begged to be erased from his memory, the engagement of Prince Endymion and Princess Serenity.

That day he was assigned to prepare the decorations of the palace. As usual Princess Lita and Princess Michelle were in charge of the food, Princess Trista and Princess Amy were in charge of welcoming the guests, Princess Aphrodite and Princess Hannah took care of the entertainment for the night while Princess Raye was his 'team mate' with the decorating job.

"Well, well, well, today's the day Alexis! The Princess will finally be formally engaged to the Prince of Earth! What can you say about that?!" Princess Michelle exclaimed as she entered the throne room.

"Don't start with me Michelle, and besides what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in the kitchen burning something?" Prince Alexis teased as he balanced on a chair to hang a ribbon on the wall.

"Oh shut-up Alexis, you wouldn't recognize gourmet food even if it was shoved up your nose. You're just upset because sooner or later she'll be moving in with her dear brother." Princess Michelle replied

"Upset? I think that's not the right word we're looking for Michelle, pissed is more like it!" Princess Raye added with a laugh.

"Why, you're so right Raye!" Princess Michelle agreed.

"Will you two just stop it?!" Prince Alexis exclaimed.

"Oh will you quit being a sour puss." Princess Michelle said as she _"accidentally"_ kicked the chair Prince Alexis was standing on.

Prince Alexis gracefully landed on his royal behind as Princess Michelle and Princess Raye laughed their hearts out.

"I hate you Michelle." Prince Alexis said as he picked himself up.

"And I hate you too Alexis." Princess Michelle replied in a sarcastic tone.

"Whatever."

"What is wrong with you anyway Alexis? Why are you so pissed off with the idea of Prince Endymion's sister staying here in the moon palace?" Princess Raye asked.

"I just can't figure out why she can't stay on Earth! She's so annoying and I can't stand that Earth Princess!" Alexis replied quite annoyed.

The doors swung open as Princess Trista and Princess Hannah entered the throne room.

"Watch your tongue Alexis. Have you forgotten that Princess Persephone lost her parents when she was only seven? And besides the Dark Queen is after her, if she stays on Earth she might die." Princess Trista said.

"Besides she's also one of us, a soldier of the white moon, a teammate." Princess Hannah added.

"She may be one of us but she's an inner soldier, as in I-N-N-E-R soldier!" Prince Alexis replied.

"Hello? Standing here!" Princess Raye exclaimed annoyingly as she pointed at herself.

Prince Alexis turned to Princess Raye and sweat dropped,

"Go-Gomenasai Raye, I didn't mean to..err..ehem.."

"hmph!"

Haruka sweat dropped again and cleared his throat and continued,

"My point is, that Earth Princess doesn't know where she belongs. She fights our battles outside the palace where in fact she should stay inside to protect the moon princess!"

"She may be one of us but her powers can equal or even surpass yours! She is more useful outside the palace and you know that! Besides, the Queen herself appointed her as the guardian of the Eastern Gate!" Princess Raye exclaimed.

Prince Alexis looked away, clenched his fist and replied,

"I still don't care."

"I sense a tone of jealousy." Princess Hannah said afterwards.

"And what do you mean by that?" Prince Alexis demanded as he looked at Princess Hannah angrily.

Princess Hanna stood confidently as she replied, still in a calm manner,

"Who are you jealous of Alexis? Is it Persephone and her powers or those three guardians of hers, that like you transforms into a woman when duty calls and the fact that they're all close to her, especially that short guy. So Alexis, which one? The power or the guardians?"

"I bet it's the guardians." Princess Raye whispered to Princess Michelle who giggled softly at the thought.

"What do you mean by that Hannah? Are you insinuating that I'm in love her?!" Princess Alexis asked.

Princess Hanna smirked and replied,

"That came from your own mouth Alexis, not mine."

"Why you..." Prince Alexis was about to punch her when Princess Aphrodite suddenly came in and exclaimed,

"Alexis! It is not good to hit a fellow soldier, and of all people you should know that! She is one of your soldiers and even if you're their leader you also have to respect them. I don't know what's going on in here but I don't like what I just saw. Restrain your anger and will everybody please go back to your tasks?? We're running late you know!"

Prince Alexis placed lowered his hand and just walked out of the throne room and into the garden.

"I fear that in the near future he will commit a mistake that will greatly affect him and all of us as well." Princess Hanna said when Princess Aphrodite and Prince Alexis left.

Princess Michelle looked outside where Prince Alexis was and said,

"I hope you're wrong Hannah, I really hope you're wrong."

Everybody returned to their assigned tasks, all except for Prince Alexis who stayed in the garden. He was deep in thought when Queen Serenity came,

"Lavender's her favorite, did you know that?"

Prince Alexis was surprised. He turned around and kneeled before his Queen. Queen Serenity shook her head and said,

"You think so much of your duty as a soldier that you neglect your duties to your heart. Alexis, your soul is full of worries and confusion. Listen to your heart once in awhile and you shall see what you've been missing all these years."

Queen Serenity smiled and winked at Prince Alexis before entering the palace. Prince Alexis stood up and looked at the lavenders dancing to the soft beat of the wind. Soon trumpets sounded, signaling the arrival of moon kingdom's very important visitors.

Prince Alexis entered the throne room just in time. Beside Prince Endymion was Princess Persephone wearing a lavender tube gown with small diamonds scattered here and there and on her long flow-y black hair was a small blue diamond encrusted silver tiara. She was smiling, but Prince Alexis somehow knew that it was a fake. Something was bothering her and his gut feeling knows it.

Soon the Prince's four generals and the Princess' four guardians entered the throne room and the celebration finally began. Everybody danced across the room, all except for a few, including Prince Alexis. Then one of the Princess' guardians approached him and said,

"What're you still waiting for you knuckled head, dance with her"

"Who you calling 'knuckle head', knuckle head??" Prince Alexis snapped back.

"Oh puh-leez Alexis. If I were you I'd dance with her the whole night or better yet...I'd take her away." The guardian replied, her last few words lowering into a whisper.

Alexis just 'hump-ed' and walked away as the guardian just shook her head in defeat.

An hour later, Queen Serenity called everybody's attention; it was time for the announcement. Prince Endymion stepped closer to her and whispered something to her. The Queen nodded and stepped back as Prince Endymion faced the crowd and announced,

"Ladies and gentlemen before anything else I would like to personally invite all of you to our palace a day after tomorrow. That day will mark the day of my dear sister Persephone's engagement to Prince Ares, heir to the throne of the Palace of Fire."

"My cousin? Eew! He's disgustingly ugly!" Princess Raye whispered to Princess Lita.

"Shut up Raye, somebody might hear you." Princess Lita replied.

The crowd 'awed' and clapped their hands with delight. This news angered Prince Alexis so he left the throne room and went back to the garden. The celebration continued and so did the announcement of the Moon Princess and Earth Prince's engagement but right after Queen Serenity said the good news the ground shook violently. Prince Alexis ran back and saw all of the people panicking. A guard ran inside and announced that an army of youkais were on their way to attack the Palace. The Outer Soldiers looked outside and saw Queen Akashtra leading the pack. They were under attack and everyone knew why.

_Tsuzuku…_


	6. Chapter 5 part 2

Of love and Fate

souna no miko

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all original characters mentioned in this story is owned by the great Takeuchi Naoko. There is no way I would claim them as my own. The song/s that will be used as part of the story are not mine either, they are owned by their respective writers and singers.

**Chapter 5 (part 2)**

**Haunted by the Past**

Everybody was immediately told to calm down and was directed to go through the underground tunnels for them to reach a safer place. Princess Serenity and Princess Persephone were immediately brought to a secured chamber. The inner soldiers stayed inside with Luna creating a barrier protecting the whole room while Princess Persephone's four guardians guarded the door from outside. Prince Endymion and his four generals together with Artemis and Queen Serenity stayed in the throne room while the outer soldiers went to their stations outside the palace except for Sailor Saturn who stayed behind to create a barrier for the whole palace.

Inside the chamber, Princess Persephone paced around the room worriedly. She was worried of her post, her brother, of the other soldiers and of the man she loves.

"Calm down Persephone, they would never get near you. You're safe here." Sailor Jupiter assured her.

"That's the least of my worries Jupiter, I couldn't care less about myself right now. I'm a soldier and my station is unguarded, I have to go there!" Princess Persephone replied.

"But you mustn't! You'll get killed out there! You're the one they're after!" Princess Serenity exclaimed as she held her bestfriend's hands.

"I'm sorry." was the Earth princess' only reply to her crying friend.

Slowly she slipped her hand from Serenity's grip and transformed. She then raised her rod and said with a smile,

"Please tell my bother that I love him so much."

With that, she teleported to her station, the eastern gate.

"What should we do Serenity?" Sailor Venus asked.

"I don't know...I just hope that she won't be harmed." Princess Serenity replied as the other soldiers just bowed their heads.

When Sailor Earth got to her post, a youkai was already able to go through the barrier made by Sailor Saturn. She immediately used her powers and soon almost half of the youkais were defeated. Meanwhile, at the southern gate, Sailor Uranus felt Earth's energy.

'Damn that Earth princess. What the hell is she thinking going to her station? She'll get herself killed damn it!' Uranus told herself as she continued to blast the youkais surrounding her. 'I shouldn't think of her. If she gets killed, I don't care.'

Sailor Earth finished the lives of the remaining youkais and just stood there with satisfaction written on her face but Akashtra appeared behind her and blasted her with a power ball. She managed to stand up but she was badly hurt.

"Oh stop fighting it princess and just give me the crystal. I might even spare your life and make you one of my generals." Queen Akashtra said as she laughed.

"NO! I shall only serve one Queen other than Queen Serenity and that is Neo Queen Serenity!" Sailor Earth exclaimed as she hurled a gravity ball at Akashtra.

Akashtra evaded the energy ball with ease, smirked and said,

"How sure are you that that pesky little moon princess of yours would actually see the day she would be crowned as the new queen? I don't think so!"

Akashtra blasted her again and again and every time she gets weaker. At the northern gate Sailor Pluto sensed Earth's energy deteriorating,

"Dead Scream." Sailor Pluto whispered as she erased half of the youkais in existence. 'Hang on Earth, hang on. I'll be there.'

At the western gate, Sailor Neptune felt the same thing,

"Deep Submerge!" Sailor Neptune exclaimed as she kept the other youkais from getting close as she kept on repeating to herself, 'Alexis, help her. Don't let anything happen to her.'

At the southern gate,

'No I won't help her. She's not supposed to be here, she's not supposed to be here!' Sailor Uranus told herself as she continued to battle the remaining youkais.

"World Shaken!"

Inside the palace, Prince Endymion fell on his knees clutching his chest.

"What is it your highness?" Nephrite asked as he helped his prince to his feet.

"Something bad is happening. Where is Persephone?" Prince Endymion asked.

At that moment Princess Serenity, the inner soldiers, Luna and Persephone's four guardians came into the throne room. Zoiste, realizing that Princess Persephone is not with them looked at the four guardians and asked,

"Where is she?"

The four guardians looked away as Princess Serenity stepped up to answer his question,

"She went to her station. They were guarding the door from the outside so they didn't know. I tried to stop her but…."

Princess Serenity broke down in tears before she could even finish. Prince Endymion walked towards her and pulled her into a secure embrace.

"Don't cry my love; it's not your fault."

Then he turned to his generals and said,

"I have to go; I have to bring her back."

Queen Serenity stepped forward and said,

"No, you mustn't. You, your four generals and four guardians are guests and therefore it is our duty to protect you."

"But your highness…" Prince Endymion protested.

"No buts Endymion. Venus, Mercury!" Queen Serenity called.

The two soldiers stepped forward and kneeled down as the Queen of the white moon gave them their orders.

"Go and retrieve Sailor Earth."

The two inner soldiers bowed in respect and left.

At the eastern gate, Sailor Earth can no longer move and was just lying on the ground.

"Give it up Princess; you'll never win against me!"

Sailor earth tried her best to stand up but she can no longer do anything. Queen Akashtra prepared a huge power ball to serve as her final attack when all of a sudden Sailor Venus and Sailor Mercury arrived.

"Venus love and beauty shock!"

"It's no use goddess of love and beauty! Your precious little earth Princess is dying and when that happens, the celestial crystal will be mine and so will the celestial palace!" Queen Akashtra exclaimed as she was avoided Venus' attack.

"What's her status?" Sailor Venus asked Sailor Mercury who was already making calculations with her compact computer.

"Heart rate's dropping, other vital signs are critical. Venus, if we don't bring her back to the palace she will…" Sailor Mercury didn't continue her sentence as she looked away from Sailor Venus.

"Where are the others?"

"They're near, just finishing of a few more youkais, wait…that's odd…"

"Why? What's odd?"

"According to my computer the southern gate, is already free of youkais. The soldier assigned in that post is standing just half a mile from here."

"What do you mean?"

"The red dots represent the body signature of the youkais while the blue dot represents the soldier."

"Let me see that."

Sailor Venus grabbed the compact computer from Sailor Mercury and saw that the southern gate is in fact free of youkais and yet the soldier in charge of the southern gate is not rushing to their aid.

"Whose position is that?" Sailor Venus asked.

"…"

"Whose position is that?!" Sailor Venus demanded.

"Uranus'" Sailor Mercury replied.

Before Sailor Venus could react Queen Akashtra threw another power ball at them. Surprisingly, it did not hit them. When they looked up, they saw Sailor Earth's 'Fate's rod' creating a thick barrier of ice. They also saw her standing with a smile on her face.

"No Earth! Don't do it!" Sailor Mercury exclaimed.

Sailor Pluto and Sailor Neptune arrived but they too were surrounded by Sailor Earth's barrier. With the barrier preventing them to come out of it, the four of them watched as Sailor Earth push her self to the limits.

Meanwhile at the southern gate, Sailor Uranus was standing among the bodies of the youkais she killed, but she was fighting a different battle, a battle that she can't seem to win, a battle with herself.

'I hate her. I won't help her, why should I anyway? She's a brat and that's what she gets for going out to her station…but still…' There was a long silence within her self as she continued fighting her own feelings for the woman she loved the first day she saw her in the palace gardens.

Sailor Earth was blasted away once again, this time she can't stand up and she can no longer hold the barrier protecting her friends. The four soldiers immediately attacked Queen Akashtra only to fail over and over again until they were blasted far from Sailor Earth, far enough for Queen Akashtra to get to her and lift her by the hair.

Finally, at the southern gate, Sailor Uranus' other self won the battle saying,

'She's the love of my life no matter how much I deny it, ever since the first time I saw her in the palace garden. I love her and I'll protect her. That's right; I'll be her knight in shining armor.'

Sailor Uranus raised her hand in the air and teleported to the eastern gate.

When she got there she saw the other soldiers limping from Queen Akashtra's attacks. When she turned around she saw the evil queen holding her beloved Earth princess by the hair. She ran towards them but Queen Akashtra hurled a big power ball towards Sailor Earth. Her body was thrown just a few feet from Sailor Uranus.

Sailor Uranus slowly approached her as tears slowly fell from her eyes. There lay in front of her the lifeless body of the woman she loves as Prince Alexis. She cradled her in her arms but soon, Sailor Earth's body slowly faded away.

"No, please no. Not yet, hang on Persephone; don't die on me like this. I love you, please hold on, and don't give up!" Sailor Uranus kept on saying over and over.

Sailor Earth opened her eyes slowly and smiled at the sight of Sailor Uranus. She tried to move her hand to touch Uranus' face but after a few moments later, infront of Sailor Venus, Pluto, Neptune and Uranus, Sailor Earth's body disappeared.

The evil queen laughed to her heart's content and this made Sailor Uranus angrier. Sailor Uranus stood up, brought out her sword talisman and said,

"You didn't give me any chance to tell her what I have to and to ask for forgiveness for not getting here earlier. You'll pay dearly for that. Neptune!"

"Huh?" Sailor Neptune was still in shock when Sailor Uranus called her attention.

"Help me with this, for Persephone, Space Sword Blast!"

'For a friend.' Sailor Neptune told her self as she brought out the mirror talisman and shouted,

"Submarine Reflection!"

Queen Akashtra, who was unaware of what the two soldiers did took the hit and was taken aback. Then the three other soldiers started attacking at the same time until the evil queen got weaker. Sailor Mercury created a small magical ball that contained the evil queen. Sailor Uranus picked up the 'Fate's rod' as they all went back to the palace with a heavy heart.

Sailor Venus reported everything, including Sailor Uranus' lack of better judgment. However, she did still save Uranus by lying and saying that the number of youkais in her station caused her delayed arrival.

Princess Serenity dropped on her knees and cried inconsolably, even Prince Endymion, who refused to cry when their parents died, was not able to hold back his tears this time and allowed himself to cry. Everybody grieved for the death of a comrade, a friend, a sister, a princess, a soldier...a love. Prince Alexis presented Sailor Earth's 'Fate's rod' to Prince Endymion. Then he went out into the garden and went to the place he first saw her beautiful smile.

'How could have I left you to die Persephone? It's all my fault, I'm so sorry!' Prince Alexis told himself. "I could have saved you...if only I wasn't so stupid" he whispered to no one in particular.

Tears flowed freely from his eyes, unashamed of what others might think of him. Then he felt a warm comforting hand on his shoulder, it was Princess Trista.

"Stop blaming yourself Alexis. It's not your fault alone. We also carry some of the guilt, so don't be too hard on your self."

"I was right, you did commit a mistake. If only you lowered your pride." Princess Hannah said as she walked from behind him and stood by his right side.

Prince Alexis quickly turned to Princess Trista and said,

"You hold the key to the gate of time, right Trista? Open it for me; I'll go back in time. I promise I'll do it right this time. I swear I will."

Princess Trista shook her head slowly and replied,

"I'm sorry Alexis but it doesn't work that way. If you return and change what has happened. Who knows how greatly it will affect all of us? It could change our present and our future as well."

Prince Alexis looked away said,

"It's better than a future without Persephone."

Princess Michelle who just came out into the garden heard what Prince Alexis said. She approached him and slapped him on the face, with teary eyes she said,

"You should've thought of that before!"

"Calm down Michelle, hurting him won't do any good.....anymore." Princess Trista said as she pulled Princess Michelle away.

"She has feelings for you but you never did anything! You continuously pushed her away but she never did give up.....Persephone...she was....she was in love with you...she was in love with a cold-hearted prince and now she's gone, my bestfriend is gone because of that cold heart of yours and that stupid pride." Princess Michelle said as tears flowed down her reddened eyes.

At that moment Haruka woke up in a cold sweat and he breathed heavily. He sat up and held his head in horror. Michiru, who was awakened by him sat up opened the lamp and asked,

"Are you okay Haruka?"

Haruka lifted his head, stared into the night and said,

"I'm haunted by my past."

_Tsuzuku…_


	7. Chapter 6

Of love and Fate

souna no miko

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all original characters mentioned in this story is owned by the great Takeuchi Naoko. There is no way I would claim them as my own. The song/s that will be used as part of the story are not mine either, they are owned by their respective writers and singers.

**Chapter 6  
Rain**

The next day Haruka looked haggard and he kept on yawning, his lack of sleep the night before was starting to get to him. And as if reflecting Haruka's mood, the sky was starting to get dark and threatening. Then he heard Haruko running down the stairs hurriedly in fear of getting to school late.

"Don't forget your umbrella, it might rain!" Haruka reminded.

"I won't, I promise!" Haruko replied as she stuffed a waffle in her mouth, dashed out of the dining room and out the house.

"Haruka-papa, why did Ruko-nesan leave the house? Aren't you going to drive us to school again?" Hotaru asked as she placed butter on her waffle.

"Gomen Hotaru but I can't, the car is still broken remember, unless you want to ride on the motorcycle?" Haruka replied with a smile.

"I don't want that noisy thing." Hotaru replied as she stuck her tongue in disgust.

Meanwhile at the three lights' apartment, Seiya and Taiki have already left for school leaving their other friend sleeping soundly in his room.

'Damn those guys. All they had to do was knock on my door and tell me it was already time to wake up. Now I'm going to be late!' Yaten thought to himself as he left the apartment, leaving his umbrella behind.

Yaten was already five blocks away from their apartment when the rain finally poured down. He used his bag to cover his head and ran towards the shed when he accidentally bumped into someone, which made him fall on a puddle of water.

"Why don't you watch where you're going you jer-" Yaten stopped when he heard the person apologizing. When he raised his head he saw Haruko all wet from the splash he generated awhile ago. Haruko reached her hand to help him up and offered to share her umbrella. Together they walked towards the bus stop where there is a waiting shed.

"I'm really sorry Yaten, I didn't see which way I was going. Gomenasai Yaten-san!" Haruko said as she tried to wipe her face with her already wet hands.

Yaten stared at her and felt like his heart's on a racetrack. He reached into his pocket and took out his handkerchief. It was also wet but he tried his best to squeeze out the water and dry it a little. Then handed it to Haruko and said,

"Here, you can use this. It's a little wet but at least it's better than your hand."

Haruko took the handkerchief, smiled and replied,

"Thanks. I guess I left my handkerchief at home."

"Hey it was better to leave your handkerchief behind than your umbrella, unlike me." Yaten replied and the both of them laughed.

After awhile Yaten smiled at her as he reached out and tucked a stray wet hair of Haruko's behind her neck.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

They waited for the bus but the rain grew stronger. Yaten looked at his watch and said,

"Look's like we're going to be late."

"Super late if the bus doesn't arrive now. Oh man, Setsuna's gonna kill me!" Haruko whined.

"Kill US you mean! Wait a minute, why didn't you go to school with Setsuna anyway? You two live in the same house right?" Yaten asked.

Haruko stuck out her tongue and replied,

"I woke up late, Setsuna left at 6am."

"6am?! Whoa that's so early." Yaten exclaimed in shock.

"Yeah well... She said she had some stuff to do before going to school." Haruko replied with a shrug.

"Ah souka (I see)."

Then the wind blew stronger and Yaten noticed Haruko hug herself as she shivered due to the coldness of the wind blowing at her already cold body. Suddenly, Haruko felt Yaten pulling her closer to a warm embrace.

"Gomene..demou..this is the only way I can think of to keep the both of us warm." Yaten said as he noticed Haruko blush.

Haruko nodded and uttered a soft 'Thank you.' But it was audible enough for Yaten to hear and cause his heart to flutter.

Meanwhile, back at Juuban High, classes had already been suspended and most of the students were either picked up by their guardians or had already gone home by themselves. After picking up Hotaru, Haruka went to Juuban High to fetch Setsuna and his sister and went ballistic the moment he learned that Haruko never made it to school.

"Calm down Haruka. Maybe she's just stranded somewhere." Minako said in an attempt to calm down the angry tiger that is Haruka.

Everybody stared annoyingly at Minako,

"What?! I was just trying to help." Minako reacted.

Setsuna shook her head lightly, turned her attention to Haruka and said,

"We'll look for her once the rain stops or at least when the wind lessens. In the mean time calm your nerves okay?"

The gang, except for Seiya and Taiki stayed in the school to wait for the rain to stop. The two starlights drove home amidst the pouring rain,

"So I guess it's a good thing we didn't wake up Mr. I-sleep-like-a-log." Seiya told Taiki as they make their way home.

"Maybe. Let's just hope he's still sleeping or else its world war III." Taiki replied.

Back at the bus stop, Yaten told Haruko that the school had probably suspended the classes by now and it would be better and safer if they went back to the 3 Lights' apartment before they catch a cold. They walked side by side under one umbrella and shared Yaten's coat. When they got there, Yaten immediately instructed Haruko to take a bath,

"Demou...what about you?" Haruko asked.

"Don't worry I'll be fine, I don't catch colds that easily." Yaten replied as he took off the upper part of his school uniform, leaving his pants on.

Haruko went inside the shower while Yaten dried himself up with a towel, changed his pants and made hot chocolate.

Meanwhile, Seiya and Taiki had just pulled up in the garage and went up stairs.

"Aren't you a bit least worried about Haruko? I mean she could be anywhere. We should have atleast helped them look for her." Taiki asked Seiya as he looked for the key of their apartment.

"I already told you, Haruka would never ask for our help and even if we do volunteer he'd just snap at us for 'meddling with his problems'. Sheez you know how that guy could be" Seiya replied.

"But still...she could be –" Taiki was cut short the moment he opened the door.

They saw Yaten sitting half-naked in front of the TV with a towel hanging over his shoulder talking to Haruko who was standing in between his legs with nothing else but a towel wrapped around her body.

Seiya and Taiki screamed at the top of their lungs and immediately entered the apartment, banging the door behind them. Seiya ran to the other side of the apartment to close every window and to cover it with the curtains.

"What the hell is she doing here?!" Taiki exclaimed, pointing at Haruko.

"Don't tell us something happened between you and –" Yaten smacked Seiya at the back of his head to cut him off.

"Uhh...yeah..I think I should go look for that shirt now." Haruko said as she walked towards Yaten's room.

"I think it's at the back of my cabinet." Yaten shouted back.

The moment Haruko was gone; the two taller boys pinned Yaten on the wall and asked,

"You better start explaining Yaten." Seiya warned.

Yaten slapped their hands away, walked towards the table where the hot chocolate is and explained everything while preparing two extra cups of hot chocolate.

"....Then she came out of the shower asking if she could borrow one of my shirts. That's when you two came in screaming like a bunch of sissies." Yaten ended as he handed them their hot chocolates.

"Ah souka, so that's why you two didn't make it to school." Taiki replied.

"But now we have a problem." Seiya said after taking a sip of his hot chocolate.

Yaten raised an eyebrow in question,

"Haruka. He's gone ballistic when he discovered that his sister didn't make it to school." Taiki replied.

"And he's gonna throw a serious and dangerous fit once he discovers that she was with you all along." Seiya continued.

"Most especially if he learns that she was here in our apartment with you all alone." Seiya added after a brief moment of silence.

All three boys fell silent once again when,

"No he won't." Haruko announced as she walked out of Yaten's room wearing a big shirt that it looked like a dress shirt on her.

"Hey that's not your shirt Yaten that's mi— oof!" Yaten elbowed Seiya on the stomach and took a step forward to look at Haruko, feeling the very same thing he did this morning back at the bus stop. He shook his head lightly and asked her,

"Naze ka? (Why is that?)"

Haruko smiled a big sinister smile, flopped down on the couch, reached for the phone before finally replying,

"Because I said so."

Meanwhile back in Juuban High Haruka's cell phone started ringing.

"Moshi Moshi! (1)" Haruka greeted.

After a few seconds Haruka suddenly exclaimed,

"She's with whom in whose what-ment??? I'm gonna crush him. He did what?!" Haruka paused for a while and continued, "No Mich I can't calm down knowing that she's with those guys!" Haruka paused again to listen to the other line and continued with an annoyed tone, "Oh alright, if she says so, but he better bring her home untouched or else. Uh-huh..okay...I said okay already! I'll try to be, okay bye." Haruka heaved out a heavy sigh as he pushed the "end" button.

"What was that all about Haruka?" Usagi asked.

"It was Michiru. She said Haruko called home."

"And?" Setsuna asked.

Haruka rolled his eyes and replied,

"And she's in the 3 Lights' apartment."

Everybody had a shocked look on their faces except for Mamuro and Calliope.

"How did she get there?!" Minako exclaimed.

"Michiru said that my sister would explain everything when she gets home." Haruka replied.

Mamoru cleared his throat and said,

"If she's with the 3 Lights then she's safe. You don't need to worry anymore."

"That's easy for you to say. It's not your sister who's alone with three guys in an apartment." Haruka snapped back.

"And neither is it yours." Calliope replied.

Everyone turned to her and Haruka looked like she just wanted to strangle the poor transferee right then and there.

"What did you say?" Haruka hissed.

Mamoru looked at Calliope, who was sitting quietly beside him and asked,

"Calliope, did you say anything?"

Calliope opened her eyes and looked at Mamoru indifferently,

"Nothing sir, I was just thinking out loud about a conversation I had with my father last night. I wasn't even listening to any of you sensei. (2)"

Haruka 'hmphed' and left the room.

Back at the apartment, Haruko and the guys watched TV and talked about stuff until Seiya noticed that the rain had finally stopped.

"I better get you home." Yaten said as he grabbed the car keys.

'I'll just go and change my clothes." Haruko replied as she grabbed her school uniform from the dryer and stepped into Yaten's room.

"You're gonna drive?" Seiya asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Why, got a problem with it?" Yaten replied while putting on his shirt.

"Okay okay, let me get this straight. You're going to drive the car to Haruko's place and drive back here?" Seiya asked.

Yaten stared at Seiya and replied,

"Ye-ess, and your point is?"

"Nothing. It's just that –" Seiya answered.

Yaten folded his arms, raised an eyebrow and asked,

"It's just that – what?"

"We're just surprised. I mean you never drive the car when we go out. 'It's tiring and I don't feel like it', you always say, but now you'll do it." Taiki butted in.

"Oh shut up." Yaten dismissed as he turned his back to his friends to go to the kitchen.

After a few more minutes, Haruko finally stepped out of the room wearing her dried uniform with a smile. They said goodbye as Haruko thanked Seiya and Taiki for their hospitality and together they left the apartment. Seiya and Taiki leaned on the balcony as they watched the car drive away.

"I wonder if Yaten's finally...you know... falling in love." Taiki said.

Seiya simply replied with a 'hmm'

Yaten pulled over in front of the Tenou residence, got off the car and opened the door for Haruko.

"Thanks for everything Yaten."

"It's nothing. Well, you should go in, it's starting to get cloudy again. Say 'Hi' to everyone for me."

"Okay Yaten." Haruko beamed. She turned around and started to walk away. Then she stopped and ran back to Yaten to give him a quick peck on the cheek, which made the latter blush lightly.

"Arigatou.(3)" Haruko said with a wink. "Mata Ashita!(4)" She exclaimed as she ran towards the door.

Yaten smiled and waved goodbye but before going back into the car Haruko ran towards him once again,

"Listen, Michi's having a recital this Saturday and I was hoping you and the guys would be able to come."

Yaten blushed and smiled as he replied an affirmative answer. Haruko's smile widened as she gave Yaten another peck on the cheek. Haruko stood infront of the door as she watched Yaten drive off into the night.

_Tsuzuku…_

A/N:

(1) Moshi Moshi! = Hello! ; usually used as a greeting over the phone.

(2) sensei = teacher

(3) Arigatou = Thanks

(4) Mata Ashita = See you!/ See you later!


	8. Chapter 7

Of love and Fate

souna no miko

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all original characters mentioned in this story is owned by the great Takeuchi Naoko. There is no way I would claim them as my own. The song/s that will be used as part of the story are not mine either, they are owned by their respective writers and singers.

**Chapter 7  
The Galaxy Myth**

That night, while they were eating dinner Haruko explained to her brother what happened to her this morning. Haruka was not really enthusiastic about it but he still promised his sister that he'd thank Yaten for what he did. After dinner, Haruko took her bath and put on her peach colored nightgown. She was brushing her hair when she heard someone knocking on her door.

"Come in, I'm decent." Haruko exclaimed.

"Hey." Haruka greeted softly as he closed the door behind him.

"Oniichan (1), what brought you here?" Haruko asked.

"Just wanted to apologize for freaking out like that." Haruka started.

"It's okay, your the big brother, it's your job to freak out." Haruko replied with a giggle.

Haruka smiled and patted Haruko's head.

"Damn hell it is." Haruka said with a wink.

After combing her hair Haruko stood up and slid open the glass door leading to her balcony and went out. She leaned on the ledge and looked at the horizon. Haruka followed her, stood beside her and asked,

"Got any problems with school?"

Haruko shook her head lightly.

Silence.

"Ruka?"

"Hmm?"

"Uhmm..."

"Is anything bothering you Haru?" Haruka asked.

"It's just that...moving back here made me a different person. It's as if I don't know myself anymore and no matter how much I try to find answers to any of my questions, I end up with even more questions." Haruko replied.

Haruko looked at his sister, hugged her from behind and said,

"Don't be silly my little Haru. You're still the same old Haruko that I know and love since birth. And if ever you feel lost, I'll always be here to help you with any of your troubles in life."

Haruko could feel the warm embrace of her brother and the soft beating of his heart. Her heartbeat ran faster and she felt something she knew she wasn't suppose to feel towards her brother. Then Haruka released her and turned her body so they would meet eye to eye. Haruko closed her eye as her brother kissed her forehead and said,

"Do you feel better now?"

Haruko opened her eyes, looking at her brother's beautiful face illuminated by the light of the moon. Blushing lightly Haruko looked away as she replied,

"I-I guess so...thanks."

Haruka smiled, placed a hand on Haruko's head and said,

"That's my princess, now go to sleep."

The word 'princess' reminded Haruko that she wanted to ask her brother about the Galaxy Myth. She looked back at her brother and said,

"Anou(2) oniichan, can you tell me the story about the moon princess...you know, the one you always tell me every night when I was a kid."

Haruka was surprised to hear that from his sister. Since childhood, she never liked those stories of his. She never believed in the moon princess and even thought that the whole story was pointless. He looked at his sister suspiciously and asked,

"Why the sudden interest?"

Haruko shrugged and replied,

"Uhh..I don't know. Maybe just to put me to sleep. I guess I kinda missed it since it's been years since you last tucked me in."

Haruka chuckled and nodded. He approached the chair and sat on it as Haruko followed her. Haruko sat across him and rested her head on top of the glass table. As Haruka began,

"It started a very long time a go. The Queen of the Moon Kingdom gave birth to a lovely little princess. She was the only heir to the throne and everybody rejoiced when she came. She was named after the Queen, Serenity. Years passed by quickly and the once small princess grew up to be a beautiful maiden. She was betrothed to the Prince of Earth, Prince Endymion and they loved each other more than anything else in the Galaxy. Seven princesses and one prince protected her. Princess Aphrodite from Venus, Princess Amy from Mercury, Princess Raye from Mars, Princess Lita from Jupiter, Princess Michelle from Neptune, Princess Hannah from Saturn, Princess Trista from Pluto and Prince Alexis from Uranus.

They transform into sailor soldiers that has the ability to protect the moon princess and the kingdom as well. That's it, that's the whole story. What else do you want to know?"

Haruko sighed heavily and replied,

"Prince Endymion has no sister, does he? So there's no Sailor Earth...?"

Haruko was caught unprepared,

'I can't tell her about the Earth Princess...I just can't.' Haruka thought to himself.

"Ruka?"

"Uhh...I'm..not really sure Haru. I...I..uhh..I haven't really heard about a Sailor Earth. She may have existed or not but who would really know anyway, it's just a Myth." Haruka replied nervously.

Haruko sighed and replied,

"That's okay oniichan . I guess you're right. I better turn myself in, I might be late tomorrow."

Haruka nodded and walked back into Haruko's room. Haruko went to bed as Haruka closed the glass door leading to the balcony and covered it with the curtains. He then went to Haruko's bed to tuck her in, kiss her goodnight and closed the light before going out.

_Tsuzuku…_

A/N:

(1) Oniichan = brother  
(2) Anou = uhmm, usually connotes hesitation, same as 'Etou'


	9. Chapter 8 part 1

Of love and Fate

souna no miko

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all original characters mentioned in this story is owned by the great Takeuchi Naoko. There is no way I would claim them as my own. The song/s that will be used as part of the story are not mine either, they are owned by their respective writers and singers.

A/N: I'm cutting this chapter into three parts…because it's uber long…xD

**Chapter 8 (part 1)  
Gathering of the Four Guardians**

The next day Mamoru was walking to school when a man with dazed look on his face grabbed him by the neck and tried to choke him to death.

Meanwhile at Juuban High, the Three Lights were busy doing their own thing when the front door suddenly slid open. They looked at the direction of the door and saw the other new girl standing by it huffing and puffing,

"Hey! You're the girl Mamoru introduced to us on the first day of school, watcha doin' here?" Seiya asked.

"Come with me, the prince is in danger." Calliope replied.

"What?" Yaten and Taiki asked in unison.

Calliope grabbed Taiki's wrist and replied,

"Come with me, questions later."

She dragged poor Taiki out of the school as the other two followed them.

Meanwhile, Mamoru was able to escape the man's grip and was able to turn into Tuxedo Kamen (1). The man transformed into a hideous thorn youkai. He tried to attack but the youkai was quick and was able to trap him yet again.

Calliope and the three boys finally arrived just when the youkai was about to hit Tuxedo Kamen with one of its thorny tentacles. Calliope threw her shoe at the youkai to catch its attention and ordered the Three Lights to transform. All three stared at each other,

"Uh...whatever do you mean by that?" Seiya asked innocently.

Calliope heaved a heavy sigh and replied,

"Follow my lead Caleb!" Calliope took out her transformation items and exclaimed,

"Sailor Star Protector, Make up!"

The Three Lights were stunned to see another starlight but decided to help anyway,

"Sailor Star Fighter, Make up!"

"Sailor Star Maker, Make up!"

"Sailor Star Healer, Make up!"

"We are the four shooting stars..." Protector started.

'Hey that's my line!' Fighter thought to herself as she continued,

"..that came from the night sky. Sailor Star Fighter!"

"Sailor Star Protector!"

'The hell? I always come after Fighter, bitch.' Healer said to herself before she proceeded,

"Sailor Star Healer!"

"Sailor Star maker!" Maker finally ended.

"Sailor Starlights, stage on!" All four shouted in unison.

The youkai attacked the four starlights and so Protector acted at once,

"Star Silent Illusions!"

The youkai was taken a back so Protector wanted to take advantage of it and ordered once again,

"Fighter, free the prince right away! Maker, healer, joint attack, now!"

Sailor Star Healer wanted to protest but Maker laid a hand over her shoulder and just nodded, giving the motion that they should just do what is supposed to be done in that very minute. Healer rolled his eyes before he attacked,

"Star Sensitive Inferno!"

"Star Gentle Uterus!"

Fighter was able to release Tuxedo Kamen and when he did, the latter snapped his finger and (then poof! It became KoKo Krunch! sorry can't help it..XDD) the youkai turned to its original form, a single red rose.

"What the fuck?!" Healer exclaimed.

Tuxedo Kamen took off his mask and smiled his usual smile,

"What the hell was that for Mamoru?!" Fighter exclaimed.

"Gomene, your sister thought about it so don't blame me." Mamoru replied with a sweat drop on his face.

"Sister?! What the hell are you talking about?!" Fighter exclaimed.

Protector approached Fighter and smacked her at the back of his head.

"What was that for?!" Seiya asked while rubbing her injured nape.

"I think it's time for you to remember." Mamoru said. He nodded towards Protector and the other nodded in response.

Protector raised her hands in the air and three differently colored balls appeared. She handed them to Mamoru and one by one the balls glowed after he touched them. He let them fly to each on of the starlights, the lilac one flew to Maker, the lime colored ball flew to Healer and the sky blue one flew to Fighter.

"What are these suppose to be Mamoru?" Maker asked.

Mamoru just smiled and replied,

"Pieces of Yesterday."

Then the balls entered their heads and with that, memories of their past came back.

Taiki found himself watching his younger self, as if watching a movie, remembering everything including his real name, Soul.

He watched as his young self pitifully lock himself inside his room full of books. He listened as other kids his age talk about him being weird and even gossiped that he's a kid who's afraid of the sunlight for he never leaves his stuffy room. They called him names like bookworm, ice prince, dark mute boy and the likes. He never really cared about those things, all he wanted was to stay away from people and live in the worlds his books offered him. And so, young Soul was never a people person. He'd rather stick his nose in a book all day long than play. He attended school yet he continued to avoid every possible human contact. Everything changed that one-day while he was in 2nd grade.

"Hey brown headed-kouhai(2) what's your name?" A squeaky yet confident voice asked from behind him.

Soul ignored the boy and continued reading his book.

"Ne otoutou daijoubu ka? (Hey little brother, are you okay?)" said the same voice once again, this time coming from infront of him.

Upon hearing the word 'outoutou'(3) Soul lifted his head only to see a black haired 3rd grader with a very short ponytail at the back of his head.

"Otou-.....tou?" he said in a questioning look.

"Ah sou(4), you _can _speak after all! Ah hai! I hope you don't mind me calling you that. I don't like calling pretty lower class men 'kouhai', 'otoutou' is much more personal, ne?"

Soul just looked back at this "intruder" with the same amount of curiosity and puzzlement he had a few minutes ago when this boy called his attention. Soon the upper classman dropped on the floor with a bump on his head. Soul saw a girl who looked exactly like the boy holding a red obento(5) high above her head.

"Itai! (ouch!)" the black haired boy shouted as he nursed his wounded head.

"Uruhe Caleb (Shut up Caleb). Stop pestering the 2nd grader with your homo tendencies." The girl said.

"Demou..it hurts." Caleb replied with tears in his eyes.

The girl turned to Soul and smiled a sweet angelic smile and said,

"Gomene. My brother could be a little playful and arrogant at times, I apologize for his actions."

Soul could only look back and give a nod.

"Watashiwa Casseopeia desu, korega watashi no aniki, Caleb desu. (I'm Casseopeia, this is my older brother Caleb.)" Casseopeia said with a bow as she forced her brother to bow as well.

"Let's be friends okay?" Caleb said as he tried to push his head up to look at him.

These two children interest him and so Soul closed his book and though it wasn't in his nature to talk to people, much less befriend them, he stood up and for the first time in his seven years of life, Soul bowed back and replied,

"Soul desu, yoroshiku onegai shimasu. (Soul, pleased to meet you.)"

Taiki smiled as he remembered the reason behind his transformation from his quiet aloof self to the Taiki that he is now.

Then he remembered how excited he was when he first stepped into the palace. He remembered the days he and Persephone would read books together under the oldest tree in the palace garden. He remembered how he vowed to protect the woman he had always admired. He remembered how useless he was when his beloved princess died. He blamed himself for being so careless but most of all he was reminded of how he hated Alexis for ignoring Persephone feelings for him and for letting her die.

Taiki remembered the poems Persephone would recite to him, poems made for no one else but Alexis.

"Ne Soul-sempai(6) what are you doing?"

"Reading a book" he replied as he closed the book to meet his princess's lavender eyes.

"What book?"

"La Morte D'Arthur."

"Oh the one about the exploits of King Arthur and his noble death, correct?"

"Hai."

"Did you know that he's one of my godfathers?"

"Y-you knew King Arthur? Uso! (Liar!)"

"Uso ja nai! (I'm not lying!) I told you, he's one of my godfathers!" Persephone said with a giggle.

"What was he like Persephone?" Soul asked now with filled with interest.

"Actually....I don't remember...I was too young when I last saw him, all I remember was that he had this funny beard that tickles every time I try to kiss him." The princess replied with a laugh.

"Hontoni? (Really?)"

"Honto desu! (It's true!) And he even makes funny faces just so I would stop crying."

Together they laughed but soon the princess stopped and added,

"I do miss him a lot."

"Is he really...dead?"

"Oh no no no no no! He's just quite busy that's all."

"Busy?"

"He's looking for that goblet my brother lost when we were still young."

"You mean . . . the Holy Graile?!" Soul asked in disbelief.

Princess Persephone took on a thinking position and thought for a while until she just shrugged and said,

"No idea, all I know is that it's oniichan's fault."

Soul sweatdropped and couldn't say anything but,

"Ehh . . ."

"Soul-kun..." Princess Persephone suddenly started with a taunting voice.

Knowing full well his princess, Soul merely smiled and asked,

"What is it this time Persephone?"

"Poem time!"

Soul teasingly groaned and replied,

"Not again!"

"Silence. I want you to listen to me."

Soul bended a bit and placed his right hand on his chest as he replied,

"Your wish is my command my Princess."

The bubbly Princess flopped down in front of Soul, closed her eyes and clasped her hands together in front of her chest.

"I am frightened in the middle of the night,  
as darkness slowly surrounds me.  
I reach out my hands for help  
but every one seems to be out of sight.

Not far away I see something sparkle  
blinding light that lead the way.  
Through the maze and to my freedom  
saving me from fear and tears.

A pair of emeralds as they seem to be  
but as I reach out to grab them  
Instead I got a hold of you.

You are my saviour,  
you and your eyes of emerald.  
And for that i thank you."

Silence.

"Ne Soul-kun, how was it?" Princess Persephone asked after a few minutes.

Soul kept his head low and held it with his right hand.

"Soul-kun?"

Silence.

"Soul-kun speak up!" Princess Persephone exclaimed as she shook Soul's body by the shoulder

With his arms dropped on his sides, his hair covering his face and his head still kept low, he replied,

"It was beautiful my lady, I'm sure he'll love it as much I did."

"You think so?"

"Iiye (No), I know so."

"Is that all? No critique? Nothing else?"

"Hai, nothing more."

Princess Persephone's smile widened as she thanked Soul and ran off happily back into the palace.

Taiki watched his past self hold his head once again, his face hidden behind his brown locks, and a drop of tear falling on the book.

_Tsuzuku…_

A/N:

(1) Kamen = mask  
(2) kouhai = pertains to someone who is younger or is in a lower level and is not a blood  
relative, eg. A senior calls a freshman 'kouhai'  
(3) otoutou = younger brother  
(4) Ah sou = Ah I see; a variation of sou ka  
(5) obento = packed lunch  
(6) sempai = pertains to someone who is older or is in a higher level and is not a blood  
relative, eg. A new reporter asks a senior reporter 'sempai'


	10. Chapter 8 part 2

Of love and Fate

souna no miko

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all original characters mentioned in this story is owned by the great Takeuchi Naoko. There is no way I would claim them as my own. The song/s that will be used as part of the story are not mine either, they are owned by their respective writers and singers.

**Chapter 8 (part 2)  
Gathering of the Four Guardians**

Seiya found himself in the same situation, remembering who he really was. He remembered his childhood as being happy and sad. He was a carefree boy with nothing else in mind but play, had lots of good times and most of all sleep.

People would always compare him with his twin sister. It has always been 'Casseopeia's this...', 'Casseopeia's that...', 'Casseopeia would....', 'Casseopeia's could...', 'Casseopeia, Casseopeia, Casseopeia'. Yet Caleb never let it get to him, he never compromised and never did he change his ways just to be praised.

He didn't care what other people would think of him, well, except for one person, his twin sister.

"Aniki why are you always up in that tree sleeping?" young Casseopeia asked as she looked up to her older twin brother.

"Saa Cassey-chan stop calling me aniki, I was only born two minutes ahead of you!"

"Then why do you always call me 'imouto'(1)?"

Caleb held one finger up and opened his mouth to protest but stopped when he realized that his sister was right, as usual.

"Caleb, you should be a bit more serious and you should stop procrastinating and being a lazy boy, in about two years we'll be officially the Princess's Guardians so you should get your act together." Casseopeia said.

For a seven-year old, his sister could be so dead pan right. He sat up straight and purposely dropped himself from the tree landing gracefully on the ground.

"Show off." Casseopeia huffed.

Caleb merely smiled back at her with that childish smile of his.

Seiya smiled as he watched his younger self make lots of friends and make lives of people around him a bit more different than how they lived it before.

He remembered the day he was appointed the leader of Persephone's guardians and the days he and Princess Persephone would talk about things, about life and about love.

Seiya watched as Caleb, his young self, first came to the palace.

He was separated from the others and found himself in the garden instead of the throne room. There he saw the most beautiful girl he has ever seen. The little girl was wearing a virgin white spaghetti strap dress, her hair which was very long and the sides were braided and joined by a small lavender ribbon at the back of her hair. The girl looked towards his direction and smiled at him. He smiled back and waved at the girl. All of a sudden a tall scary looking palace guard tapped his back and asked him what was he doing there,

"I'm...uhm...I'm a guardian of..." Seiya stuttered in fear.

"Oh, one of the starlights ehy? Very well follow me." The guard replied.

The guard took him to the throne room where his sister and his other two friends were, and there, he saw the girl once again.

The young 14-year old Earth prince introduced his sister to her four new guardians. The Princess who was only 9 years old hid behind her brother and scanned the faces of the people in front of her; she smiled once she saw a familiar face. She stepped out of her brother's back and approached the boy,

"You're the boy from the garden a while ago."

Caleb bowed in respect and replied.

"I got lost your highness."

Princess Persephone giggled and asked in a formal teasing tone,

"And what might I ask is your name young man?"

Caleb bowed once again and replied,

"The name is Caleb your highness."

Persephone smiled at him and said,

"Well then Caleb, you can call me Persephone, just….Persephone."

From that day on he and Princess Persephone became real good friends. He remembered how Persephone shared her secrets with him, how he was one of the first few people who knew about her feelings towards Prince Alexis. He's forever annoyed by the prince's pride and hated him for ignoring the woman he loved as his own sister. But amidst it all, he could not find it in his self to blame the arrogant Uranian Prince for his Princess' death, for he knew well that Princess Persephone would never forgive him if he did.

Tears fell from Seiya's eyes as he watched his past self quietly slip away from Persephone's death ceremony to go to his chamber and cry, away from everybody's eyes.

_Tsuzuku…_

A/N:

(1) imouto = younger sister


	11. Chapter 8 part 3

Of love and Fate

souna no miko

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all original characters mentioned in this story is owned by the great Takeuchi Naoko. There is no way I would claim them as my own. The song/s that will be used as part of the story are not mine either, they are owned by their respective writers and singers.

**Chapter 8 (part 3)  
Gathering of the Four Guardians**

Draco, a name taken from a dragon and strikes fear in the hearts of men. A fitting name for a boy with a tendency to become extremely violent, and it was _his_ name...a long time ago, Yaten answered to _that_ name.

Yaten watched as his younger self lock himself in his chamber while his maid talked to a man. He sat on his bed quietly as he stared blankly at his chamber's floor. He heard the man tell their maid that his parents died protecting the royal family. He was proud of his parents but hated them for leaving him behind too early; he was only 4 for crying out loud!

As the young Draco grew up he never gained friends, followers yes but never true friends. He was a bully and almost everyday he came home with a bruise on his body. Kids in his school feared him for he never fails to start a fight with other kids. The other kids that surrounded him were not there because they wanted to but because they were afraid that if they didn't he'd hurt them, either that or they think they'd be safe from other bullies by sticking with him, but they were wrong. Draco never wanted people around him, as much as possible he wanted to be alone but somehow having all these people around him made him, well, loved. Until one day,

"Hey there 2nd grader!" a fourth grader with long black hair greeted him as he entered the school gates.

Draco snubbed him and went on his way.

"Such a snobby little kid huh Soul?" Draco heard the boy ask his companion.

The other boy merely fixed his glasses, crossed his arms and said,

"You're at it again aren't you Caleb?"

The one named Caleb rubbed his nose, laughed and said,

"No idea what you're talking about Soul. "

At lunch, Draco usually sleeps at the top of the school building, laying down on a leaf that served as their school's roof. He saw commotion at the eastern part of the school but didn't bother to try and have a look at what's gonig on until he saw her.

In the middle of all the other kids was a beautiful girl, probably the same age as he is. He sat up straight and used his magic to have a closer look at the girl. After such a long time Draco smiled once again and felt something he has never felt before. Suddenly,

"Pretty ain't she?"

It was the boy from that morning.

Startled, Draco lost control over his magic and so lost the image of the girl. He stood up and said,

"You're troublesome and you just interrupted me."

"You know what; she's the princess, pretty little girl huh? You two would look good together"

"Why don't you keep your opinions to yourself Caleb."

"You know me? Told yah Soul, I'm famous!" Caleb exclaimed with an excited smile on his face.

Soul came into view from behind one of the branches that supported the school and said,

"Famous for that loud mouth of yours."

Caleb stuck out a tongue and returned his attention to Draco,

"I've watched you since Kindergarted Draco, and I have a proposition to make."

"Why? What does a fourth grader like you want from a second grader such as me? You already have a third grader for a lap dog, what else do you need, a servant?"

Soul's hands rolled into a fist and trembled in anger. Caleb simply smiled and said,

"Soul's not a lap dog, he's my friend. Unlike those people who surround you everyday, those are what you call lap dogs. As for servants I already have hundreds of those at home. Now about my proposal..."

Draco didn't let him finished as he attacked him, but the young boy was quicker than Draco thought.

"How...how did you..."

"As I was saying, let's have a fight right here right now. If you win I'll let you go, I'll never bother you again but if you lose....well, you'll join me, Soul and my sister and be our friend. That way you could find ways to defeat me, someday. Ready?"

"I was born ready." Draco replied.

The two boys fought above the school grounds, Soul stood watch as he used his magic to keep the two boys invisible as to not make the crowd panic. Draco was kicking, punching, throwing energy balls at Caleb, and Caleb simply, and easily evaded each attack. When Caleb saw his opponent slowly losing his strength he started to attack. A few punches here and there, a few kicks but the younger boy would not give up. Until the princess looked up, Draco, meeting her lavender eyes. Caleb saw that chance and immediately, he tackled the second grader on the roof and pinned him there

"You lose I win, you're our friend now. Be a man and keep your word." Caleb said with a triumphant grin on his face.

"What makes you think I'll keep it, I'm a second grader for crying out loud!"

"Ehh?" Caleb responded.

"He's right you know." Soul said as he shrugged.

"Oh I know you'll keep it, because I trust you." Caleb replied.

Draco pushed Caleb aside and dusted himself off as he looked down at the school's entrance to look at the Princess who was once again greeting everyone with a smile. He looked back and the two older boys were no where to be seen. The next day kids were suprised to see Draco trailing behind the loudest student of their elite school.

Yaten chuckled as he watched his past unfold before him. Then in a flash he remembered his first day at the palace and how happy he was to become his love's guardian.

Yaten remembered the days he and Princess Persephone spent together in the palace's music room and garden. Princess Persephone loved his voice and the way he played his violin and so they would usually meet at the music room or by the fountain at the palace garden.

"That was really good Draco. I love your compositions. I can't believe Caleb's stories about you being a school bully when you were younger. A bully could never create such sweet melodies. Plus you seem to get better and better everyday!" Princess Persephone praised.

"Well that's me, but I couldn't have done it without you Persephone, you're my inspiration." He replied with a smile as he made a mental note to get Caleb for telling her about his past younger self.

Princess Persephone scooped water from the fountain and threw it at him as she exclaimed,

"Yeah right!"

Draco blinked in surprise and wiped his face with the sleeve of his coat,

"Ah so the little princess wants to play huh?" Draco said as he pulled up his sleeves and prepared to splash water at Persephone.

The princess giggled and prepared for battle. They continued their harmless game and ended up all wet and laughing to their hearts' content.

The first day he saw Persephone he vowed that he'll never let anything hurt her or make her cry, that is until he learned of Persephone's admiration to Prince Alexis.

Everyday he would watch Princess Persephone make garlands out of tulips, daises and lavenders just for Alexis, hoping that one day she'd be able to give them to him.

"Draco, do you think he'd like this?" Princess Persephone asked one summer morning.

"Who?"

"Prince Alexis of course!"

"Sure he will." Draco replied as he sadly left, walking towards the gazebo.

'I swear Alexis, if you ever hurt her feelings I'll tear you apart limb from limb.' Draco swore to himself as he clenched his hands into a fist.

He remembered the sacrifices he made just to see the love of his life happy. That's why he hated Prince Alexis more that he hated the evil queen that threatened his princess's life. Prince Alexis was his beloved's love one and yet he ignores her which makes her sad and cry. He always wished that Prince Alexis would just drop dead and die but he knew how much that would sadden his princess so even if it hurts him he'd wish for the arrogant prince to finally notice her.

Yaten's anger in his heart was replaced by sadness as he watched and remembered his most painful memory, the death ceremony of Princess Persephone.

Since Princess Persephone's body disappeared, they settled with the paintings created by Princess Michelle. He played the violin one last time for his beloved as tears flowed out of his eyes. After the ceremony, Draco saw Prince Alexis go out of the throne room and into the garden. He followed him outside and said,

"This was her favorite place. Every morning she'd pick out the most beautiful flowers and make garlands out of them. She'd all make them just for you."

Prince Alexis just stood there with his head low and his back facing Draco,

"And do you know what else Alexis? I loved her, but she loved you and you did nothing but make her cry. You were always the reason behind her tears and I couldn't make all the pain go away because I'm not you. Were you too absorbed with yourself that you failed to notice her or were you just too dense to sense it?!" Draco continued.

Silence.

"What, you're still arrogant to talk to me huh oh almighty Prince Alexis of Uranus?!" Draco mocked.

"I was afraid." Prince Alexis said without looking at Draco's eyes.

"What?"

" I was afraid."

"Of what?"

Alexis lifted his head and stared at the dark sky before continuing,

"Of myself mostly, I was afraid that she won't like me or someday I might accidentally do something that might hurt her. I was afraid that I would never be enough of a man to be with her, to actually deserve someone like her. I know I'm a ver impatient person and I tend to lash out at people when things irritate me or when things don't go as planned or as ordered so I'm really afraid that one day she'd see what an ugly person I am. I'm afraid of myself, afraid that "my self" would hurt her unintentionally."

Draco's hand trembled in anger as he replied,

"You're an idiot but you're right about one thing. You should be afraid of your self because you have hurt her by just being you. By deciding that you don't deserve her and by deciding that you would cause her pain, you have indeed caused her pain. You've hurt her by ignoring her and her love for you. "

Alexis' eyes grew big when he realized that Draco was right. He looked at Draco for a brief moment and looked away immediately.

"It doesn't really matter now Draco." Alexis mumbled softly but Draco heard it perfectly.

Draco made him look at him before he grabbed him by his collar,

"If it weren't for you she could still be alive. If it weren't for you she wouldn't have been crying her heart out every single night, If it weren't for you...she could've been mine, but no. I decided to stay in the shadows so I could see her smile. I vowed to protect her and the man she'll love just to see her happy, even if it pains me. Damn you Alexis for all the pain you've caused her. Damn you!"

He was about to punch Alexis on the face but Casseopeia was able to catch his hand before it hit Alexis's face. Casseopeia ordered Draco to release Prince Alexis and said,

"Stop blaming him Draco, he's already had enough. Blaming one another won't bring our Princess back, so will you just stop it. Come on let's go in, the rain's about to pour."

The three of them entered the palace as the sky itself started to cry.

The last memory that ran through their heads was the same. The evil Queen was able to escape and attacked the Celestial Palace. Nephrite, Zoiste, Kunzite and Jaidite were already weak and can no longer fight. Prince Endymion enveloped the four of them in a protective ball of light and slowly they were lifted off the ground, flying them away from the palace.

"Someday we'll need you but for now you must leave so that you may survive." Prince Endymion said as he bid them farewell.

They tried to destroy the shield but failed, except for Casseopeia. With her ability to phase through anything she could easily get out, but before she did,

"I need to stay. I promised Princess Persephone that I'll protect her brother no matter what." Casseopeia said.

"Cassy, if you'll stay I'll stay." Caleb exclaimed.

"Shut up Caleb and don't be a fool. I love you brother and that's why you must live!"

Casseopeia touched her brother's forehead and said,

"Someday we'll meet and together we'll live, but for now your memories will become mine so that you'll never be bothered by the past you were forced to leave behind. Your lights will die but soon re-born once this spell is broken by powers stronger than mine."

After that Caleb fell asleep and a sky blue colored ball flew out of his head. Casseopeia did the same thing with Soul and Draco, collecting a lilac colored ball and lime colored ball from them. After that, Casseopeia phased through the barrier Prince Endymion created, transformed into Sailor Star Protector and fought Queen Akashtra.

At that moment the three starlights opened their eyes as tears continuously flowed down their eyes. They looked at Mamoru who was smiling back at them so they wiped their tears and kneeled in front of their Prince,

"Okairinasai (Welcome home) Caleb, Soul, and Draco. Please rise for at this moment I am not the person you know I am, I am just Chiiba Mamoru, your Physics teacher and we're going to be late if we remain standing here." Mamoru said.

They all stood up and lost their transformation. Together, they walked to Juuban high.

"So you're supposed to be my twin sister huh?" Seiya asked Calliope.

"Why, got a problem with that my lazy ass brother?" Calliope asked back.

"No-no-no, no problem at all." Seiya replied quite nervously.

"Your sister may have been re-born in a different family but she's still the old Casseopeia." Mamoru commented as everybody laughed.

"Mamoru, could I ask you something though?" Taiki asked.

"You're already asking one aren't you? But kidding aside, go ahead, as long as it's not about your assignment for today 'cause that'll be cheating." Mamoru replied.

Taiki smiled and asked,

"Before Princess Kakyuu died she told us about a girl we must protect. She told us to protect who we believe we must protect but once we find her we must protect her and her alone. I now realize that she was referring to Persephone, but how did she knew about all this?"

"When I was re-born and regained my identity as Prince Endymion. I've been sending messages outside the planet hoping that who ever found your re-born selves would receive it. Princess Kakyuu was the only one who responded and told me that she was able to break Casseopeia's spell so I explained to her your real identity. I asked her to send you back immediately once you reach the right age, she never answered me directly but she did tell me to wait." Mamoru explained.

"Ah souka..."

"What about you Cassy...I mean Calliope?" Seiya asked curiously.

"That's okay aniwe (1), you can call me Cassy if you want...anou...when Galaxia appeared, I already had those recurring dreams about who I really am. Finally, Helios appeared and gave me back my transformation item. When Galaxia died I secretly presented myself to Prince Endymion with the help of Helios of course and together we watched the three of you and waited for her arrival." Andre continued.

"So she's here?" Yaten asked

"Hai." Mamoru replied.

"Then who is she?!" Yaten asked impatiently.

Mamoru and Calliope stopped walking in front of the school gates and looked at each other,

"Well?" Yaten asked again growing more and more impatient by the minute,

"Princess Persephone..." Mamoru started.

"...is Tenou Haruko." Calliope ended as the school bell rang.

_Tsuzuku…_

A/N:

(1) aniwe = brother..I think it's a more formal or kind of an old traditional way of  
addressing one's brother


	12. Chapter 9

Of love and Fate

souna no miko

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all original characters mentioned in this story is owned by the great Takeuchi Naoko. There is no way I would claim them as my own. The song/s that will be used as part of the story are not mine either, they are owned by their respective writers and singers.

**Chapter 9  
Home at Last**

After Haruko's volleyball training she went straight home, politely rejecting Minako's invitation to go to the Crown because she was already dead tired. After taking a long relaxing bath and eating her dinner she went straight to bed and fell asleep immediately.

In the middle of the night, a lavender light in front of her bed awakened Haruko. She opened her eyes and saw a girl with long black hair dressed in a Sailor fuku, which she recognized as Sailor Earth's, her own fuku, only a bit different from what she transforms into now. The girl smiled at her and said,

"Hello Haruko."

"W-who are you?" Haruko asked as she sat up straight.

"I am you and you are me." the girl replied.

"I don't understand. How could that happen? I mean -" Haruko was cut off when the pale skinned girl pointed a finger at her forehead and said,

"Close your eyes and you shall see what I mean."

With that, pieces of her past flashed in her mind. The day she was born, her first step, her first word, and her first booboo. She remembers the celestial palace, the warm embrace of her older brother, the loving kiss of her mother and father and the gentle smile that a young lady with long brown hair shares with her whenever she's afraid.

After that, memories of her first visit to the moon kingdom flashed in her mind. The first time she met Princess Serenity, her brother's would-be fiancée, the time she received her duty as a Sailor Soldier and the very first time she met Prince Alexis. She was only 6 and he was 8, but she felt something she has never felt before. Casseopeia, Caleb, Princess Michelle and Princess Serenity were the first few people who knew about her feelings towards the Prince of Uranus, but it didn't take long before other people, most especially the other senshis, noticed it. But it seemed like that the only person who didn't know about it was Alexis himself.

Everything went black after that and sad memories resurfaced. The death of her parents brought sadness to the whole earth kingdom. As everyone grieved, she received the celestial crystal and the Fate's rod from the three fates. The girl with long brown hair was sentenced to exile for some reason a seven-year-old like her wasn't able to understand.

Sadness filled her but after two years; her brother introduced her to four people whom she cherished all her life.

She remembered the day she first met her guardians when she was still 9. Her brother called them the starlights, but to her, they were someone else.

She remembered one who goes by the name of Soul and is known as Sailor Star Maker. He had long dark brown hair. He was the most logical and intelligent among the four. She remembered how they would spend lazy afternoons under the shade of the oldest oak tree in the palace reading books. She'd even recite her own poems to Soul and the latter critiques and praises them. He was always quiet and aloof and usually he'd rather be alone with one of his books than join them but deep inside he was really friendly and nice once he learns to loosen up.

Then there was Draco also known as Sailor Star Healer, the only guardian with long platinum hair and the most beautiful green eyes. He was a rough boy and would usually pick a fight with almost everyone that gets on his nerves, especially when people mistake him for a girl. She recalled how the other guardians would tease him because he looked effeminate enough to be one of her court ladies, he'd chase after them screaming at the top of his lungs. She also remembered how Draco had the most beautiful voice among all four guardians. She and Draco would sing together and sometimes he'd play the violin only for her. They were the ones who usually got along because they were the ones who were of the same age. Usually he's grumpy around most people but with her, he always has a story to tell and a song to sing.

Finally the twin stars, Caleb and Casseopeia, Sailor Star Fighter and Sailor Star Protector respectively. Both of them had long jet-black hair and soft eyes. Caleb was the most playful and most happy-go-lucky among her four guardians, but he was the one appointed to be the Starlights' leader. Haruko remembered how he becomes serious whenever he's on duty. His leadership skills can be compared to her brother's generals and his tactical skills were way better than anybody else in the kingdom. She even remembered how her brother and Nephrite ask Caleb for military defense and offense tactics. He's really practical and smart but very very naughty and playful. He is the complete opposite of her fraternal twin sister, Casseopeia. She's second in command and takes everything seriously. There are rare times where in she loosens up a bit, usually when it involves Prince Alexis of Uranus. The earth princess remembered that one time when Protector walked up to Prince Alexis and hit him on the nape and laughed out loud when the latter asked her why she did it. She was one of her most trusted confidante, aside from her two bestfriends of course, Princess Michelle and Princess Serenity, but unlike them Casseopeia knew most about her dreams and her hopes, but more importantly she knew her pains. When she's sad she runs to her, she was like the older sister she never had, being two years older than she was.

Haruko smiled as she remembered the days when she was in the celestial palace with her four guardians, which she considered her four trusted friends.

The very last memory that ran through her head was the engagement day of her brother and Princess Serenity. The Dark Queen attacked the moon kingdom in search of the Celestial Crystal. She saw blurry and faded battle scenes until the Dark Queen herself blasted her from behind. With her last ounce of strength, she contained the celestial crystal in a magic ball and let it wander off into space. The Dark Queen made her suffer before killing her off. The last voice she heard before drifting off into eternal sleep was of Sailor Uranus, pleading her to hold on and calling her by the name...

"Persephone."

Haruko opened her eyes and saw her past self smile at her, now wearing a powder blue halter gown.

"I've waited centuries for you and now you're back. Okairinasai Persephone-hime." Her past self said as lavender light emanated from her.

Soon the image of Haruko's past self faded and a small ball appeared in her place. Haruko reached for the ball and when she touched it, the ball dissolved and the celestial crystal appeared and entered her body. Haruko felt the warmth of the crystal and the power slowly flowing into her veins. Haruko looked out of the window, stared at the bright full moon, smiled and said,

"Tadaima. (I'm home.)"

_Tsuzuku…_


	13. Chapter 10 and 11

Of love and Fate

souna no miko

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all original characters mentioned in this story is owned by the great Takeuchi Naoko. There is no way I would claim them as my own. The song/s that will be used as part of the story are not mine either, they are owned by their respective writers and singers.

**Chapter 10**

**Akashtra, Queen of the Underworld**

Inside the ruins of the Celestial Palace lies the throne room of a lady that has long been feared by those who knew her. This tall slender woman with long silver hair was said to be the keeper of the celestial crystal but then she learned greed, lust and selfishness, which corrupted her mind and made her hungry for power. Young Prince Endymion had to exile her before she could take the crystal and use it to fuel her evil plans. Since that day, Callisto the gentle and loyal keeper of the celestial crystal vanished, and in her place stood the Queen of the Underworld, known to all as Akashtra.

Akashtra devoted herself into getting revenge against the kingdom that banished her, and so he gathered people that would believe and follow her ideals and among her minions she had three generals of some sort, Enyodus and Erisia, the twin prodigal children of Hades, and Psyche...the weird quiet girl with short light brown hair tied in ponytails...

Psyche's a small little girl, about 7 or 8 in age. She usually contradicts Akashtra's plans but then she proposes a new plan that actually gets them somewhere.

Upon the news of Erisia's demise, the evil queen called for her remaining two generals,

"Enyo, report to me."

There was no answer.

"Enyo....Enyo?" Akashtra called out again.

She looked down and saw Psyche staring at her blankly with her hands behind her back.

"Where is that insolent fool?"

Psyche merely shrugged.

"Enyodus!" Akashtra screamed at the top of her lungs.

Sounds of horse's hooves clacking on marbled floor resounded throughout the ruins. Soon a pure white horse with a rider clothed in an all black armor with matching cape came into the room. The rider dismounted the horse and approached the throne. He stopped at the bottom of the stairs, kneeled, bowed and said,

"I apologize for my tardiness my Queen. I was attending to my sister's funeral service."

"Boo-hoo your sister's dead. It's her fault so I don't really care now do I? When I call for you Enyodus, you come at once, understood?"

Enyo kept his head bowed and replied,

"Wakarimashita. (I understand)"

"Now...report."

Enyo stood up and replied.

"After my sister's death..."

"Failure" Akashtra corrected.

Enyo's teeth gritted as he continued,

"Failure...after Erisia's failure the princess has regained her memory and so did her guardians...."

"WHAT?! You imbecile! Now that she's confident of her identity she can easily cut your head off...especially with those troublesome guardians of her slithering beside her all the time! This is you and your sister's fault!" Queen Akashtra roared.

Silence.

"If you may permit me to speak your greatness...." Psyche started.

"Yessss?" Akastra hissed as she eyed the young girl.

"I think I have a plan to catch that girl and–"

"I have a plan as well your malevolent-ness!" Enyo suddenly butted in and so upon getting Akashtra's attention he continued. "Let me redeem my sister's name."

Akashtra closed her eyes in thought and finally decided by saying,

"Very well. But if you fail and manage to live....I shall be the one who will personally cut your throat up and send you back to your father's realm....this time as a costumer."

Enyo bowed in respect and went on his way, but before riding off with his horse he looked back at Psyche with a smirk. Psyche smiled inwardly as she thought to herself,

'Enyo you little nitwit....you'll be dead before you know it.'

Chapter 11

**Exposed**

The week passed by quickly and it was already Saturday and the whole Tenou household was busy preparing themselves for Michiru's recital. It's already past 6pm and Michiru's running late because of a certain golden brown haired girl,

"It's almost 6:30! My recital starts at 7pm! Where the hell is she?!" Michiru exclaimed when she saw Haruka coming down the stairs.

Haruka flopped down on the couch and adjusted his cuff links.

"Well?"

"The blue, the black or the red...you know, the story of you girls picking a dress." Haruka replied.

"And?!" Michiru asked impatiently.

"Aaaand I told her that she'd better use the red one since it looks good on her."

"AKAI?! (RED?!)" Hotaru exclaimed.

"Why red?!" Setsuna added.

Haruka looked at both of them and replied,

"It's my favorite color!"

"Demou...akai? (But…red?)" Hotaru asked innocently.

Then at that moment, Haruko slowly walked down the stairs wearing lavender Greecian gown with matching shawl. A silver slave bracelet wrapped her right arm and she was also wearing a 3-inch silver tie-up jimmy choos shoe. She was a beautiful goddess; the only disorganized thing was her hair.

As Haruka watched his sister glide down the stairs, his heart ran faster and his stomach felt twisted. He felt like Haruko was a different person....a different woman,

'Kami-sama(1), why do I feel like this? It's as if I'm crushing on my own sister!' Haruka told himself.

Haruka could feel the same things he felt when he saw Michiru for the first time, maybe even more and it's both scaring him and making him feel lightheaded.

Michiru's frustrated sigh snapped him out of his trance so he looked and saw Michiru fixing his sister's hair,

"I thought Haruka told you to wear the red one? Oh Haruko your hair's a mess!" Michiru said as she removed one of her hair pins from her head and placed it on Haruko's.

"Gomene Mi-chan...I found this lavender dress at the back of my closet and...Well, it goes with my eyes a lot better don't you think?" Haruko replied.

Michiru finished fixing Haruko's hair and started tugging Haruka's hand,

"Well it does fit you. Now let's go please!"

"Chotto mate, they're not here yet." Haruko called out.

"Who's not here yet?" Setsuna asked.

"The Three Li—"

Ding. Dong.

"That must be them." Haruko said after hearing the doorbell ring out.

All of them followed Haruko to the door and was shocked to see the three lights and Calliope. Haruka was about to blow his top,

"We can go now. I'll be riding with them, ne oniichan? Ikuzo!(2) (Let's go!)" Haruko said with a smile.

Haruka stood there immobilized until Michiru pinched his right ear and dragged him to the car.

All of them arrived at the theater just in time. Michiru had to run to the backstage with Haruka tailing behind her carrying her things.

They all sat at the front row with Haruka at Haruko's right and Yaten at Haruko's left side together with Taiki, Seiya and Calliope.

Both Haruka and Yaten kept on glancing at Haruko...both feeling flushed and somewhat different.

At the middle of Michiru's cello performance, a black portal opened from Michiru's back and a youkai that resembled a plant came out. The youkai opened the petals of the huge flower on its head and all the people in the theater fainted and fell on the floor, all except for Setsuna, Hotaru, Michiru, Haruka, Haruko, Calliope and the Three Lights of course. The outer soldiers hesitated to transform because of Haruko and Calliope's presence so Haruka told Michiru to bring the two of them outside. Of course Michiru protested, suddenly the youkai aimed a vine towards Michiru. Haruko jumped in front of Michiru and became the youkai's hostage.

"Look-y look-y I've got a prettly little princess in a hook-y." The youkai taunted.

"Itai! Let me go! Haruko screamed.

"Oujosama!(2) (Princess!)" Yaten exclaimed,

Everyone turned to him as Seiya, Taiki and Calliope nodded at one another.

"Sailor Star Fighter make up!"

"Sailor Star Protector, make up!"

"Sailor Star Maker, make up!"

"Sailor Star Healer, make up!"

Haruko's eyes widened in shock, not believing that the three lights and Calliope were her soldiers,

"Caleb, Casseopeia, Soul, Draco....." Haruko said beneath her breath.

"Sailor Starlights, stage on!"

All four starlights tried to attack the youkai but to no avail. Left with no choice, Haruka and the remaining three white moon soldiers transformed,

"NO, HARUKA DON'T!!" Sailor Star Fighter screamed the moment Haruka raised his transformation item.

"Kusou." Sailor Star Maker cursed underneath her breath.

The other starlights turned and saw Haruka's transformation into sailor Uranus, everybody saw it...including Haruko.

"Let go of my sister youkai!" Sailor Uranus exclaimed after transforming.

"Ah...ah..ah...my lord would love to see her pretty face first before we destroy her..." The youkai replied waving a vine in front of Sailor Uranus.

Confused and hurt, Haruko stopped squirming from the youkai's grip. Instead she lowered her head and said,

"Hey..."

"Hmmm?" the youkai turned its head and asked, "What is it princess? Pleading for mercy already? But I haven't even done anything yet!"

"Do me a favor and tell your lord to tell his queen to please...

"Yes? Please what?"

"Stop pestering me....summer blaze!" Haruko exclaimed as she slammed her hands on the youkai's vines which held her.

The youkai immediately felt the sudden agonizing heat coming from Haruko's palms so it released her right away. Teary eyed, Haruko brought out her transformation item and transformed into Sailor Earth, shocking the outer soldiers, especially Sailor Uranus.

Her appearance this time was a bit different from when she first transformed. With the power of the celestial crystal within her, the golden tiara disappeared and instead, at the center of her forehead appeared the symbol of earth and a lavender colored crystal shaped like fire replaced the transparent lavender star. Her skirt now has two layers of cloth and her boots that used to reach above her knees now just reaches half way below her knees. Most importantly, her most prized possession is now back in her hand, the Fate's rod.

"You're a, a, a...."

"A, a, a, ,a soldier!"

"B-but t-this c-can't be!" the youkai exclaimed.

"P-p-perhaps E-Eris f-forgot t-t-to te-te-tell y-y-y-y-you....." Sailor Earth said in a mocking way.

"Oh wait that's right, I killed her." Sailor Earth shrugged and continued; "Now it's your turn.....Spring Creation!"

The youkai was damaged by Haruko's attack and the starlights wanted to finish it off but Sailor Earth stopped them,

"Let it live so that he can give his lord and his Queen my message."

She approached the youkai, lifted its head and said,

"Tell them what you saw and what you felt. Tell them that I'm back and that I'm ready for them. I won't run away, I won't cry ever again, but if they try and hurt my friends all hell will break loose and they'll get exactly what they're looking for....death. So stay away from my friends. This is between us so let them be. Got it?"

"Got it." The youkai replied weakly.

Sailor Earth dropped its head on the floor and let it crawl back into the portal from which it came from. When the portal closed, Sailor Earth lost her transformation and slumped on the floor wearily, her four guardians rushing to her side.

"Haruko-neesan...." Sailor Saturn called out as she took steps towards Haruko.

"Haruko, you're Sailor Earth?!" Sailor Pluto asked.

Haruko slowly stood up, helped by Protector and Maker. She looked at every one of them, smiled and nodded,

"Then that means...." Sailor Neptune started.

"She is also Princess Persephone. Princess of the Celestial Kingdom, guardian of Earth, keeper of souls..." Protector continued.

"Soldier of the white moon." Haruko ended.

"Uso....(It's a lie)" Sailor Pluto whispered

"Sore wa dekimasen. (That's impposible.)" Sailor Saturn said**.**

"Sou na kutou! (Oh no, it can't be)" Sailor Neptune exclaimed.

Silence.

Haruko looked at Sailor Uranus with hope that she'd say something, but the tough soldier merely looked away as she clenched her fist beside her.

"Sailor Uranus...will you...will you say something...anything?" Haruko pleaded.

"What else is there to say?" Sailor Uranus replied coldly.

"Alexis please..." Haruko started as she took a step towards the golden brown haired soldier.

"Don't!" Sailor Uranus exclaimed. "Don't call me that. I'm not....I'm not Alexis anymore so don't come near me Earth Princess." Sailor Uranus continued.

"Uranus, that's harsh she's still your—"Sailor Pluto was cut off when Sailor Uranus shot an angry and dangerous glare at her.

Tears flowed out of Haruko's eyes as she tried to absorb the things he told her.

"You...you don't mean that do you Alexis?"

"I said don't call me that!" Sailor Uranus exclaimed as she glared at Haruko with so much anger Haruko has never seen before.

Haruko stepped back and ran out of the theater, her guardians running after her immediately except for one.

Yaten glared at Sailor Uranus with the same amount of anger and said,

"Eight hundred billion millenniums and you're _still_ the reason for her tears...."

Yaten turned his back and ran off to follow the others.

Sailor Neptune looked at Sailor Uranus, who had his back facing them, not noticing the drops of tears falling on the ground.

All four outer soldiers stood there in silence not knowing what else to say or do.

_Tsuzuku…_

A/N:

(1) Kami-sama = pertains to a higher being, 'god'  
(2) Ikuzo = a variation of Ikemasho which means 'Let's go!"


	14. Chapter 12 and 13

Of love and Fate

souna no miko

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all original characters mentioned in this story is owned by the great Takeuchi Naoko. There is no way I would claim them as my own. The song/s that will be used as part of the story are not mine either, they are owned by their respective writers and singers.

Chapter 12

**Realities of Life**

Haruko didn't come home that night and for the first time in his life, Haruka didn't worry where in the world his sister is......at least for the first half-hour after midnight that is, but he didn't let Michiru, Hotaru or Setsuna notice that.

The next day, Setsuna called a meeting at the Hikawa shrine. Everybody was already there except for Haruko and her four guardians.

"What's the meeting for Setsuna?" Makoto asked after seeing that they're already complete.

"Let's wait a little longer, ne?" Setsuna said with a smile.

Soon the people that the outer soldiers were waiting for had finally come.

"Sorry we're late." Seiya said.

"We kinda had a problem...." Taiki added as he glanced at Haruko who was standing beside Yaten.

"That's fine, I understand. Go ahead, take your seat." Setsuna replied with a smile.

Haruko sat beside Mamoru and so the other four sat beside her. Usagi cringed when she saw Mamoru wrap an arm around Haruko and kiss her on the forehead.

"Mamo-chan...." Usagi whined as she tried to tug Mamoru's arm away from Haruko.

"Yamero Usa-ko. (Stop it Usa-ko)" Mamoru warned.

"Mou....(1)"

"Yamero. (Stop it.)" Mamoru said sternly.

Usagi pouted and scooted over to Makoto's side.

"Mamoru-san what's with you? You know Usagi gets jealous when you're dotting too much on other girls." Makoto said.

"She need not to. She's being jealous at the wrong time, place and person." Mamoru said with an annoyed tone.

"And when, where and to who do you want me to be jealous of? When you're getting married at a chapel with her?!" Usagi blurted out.

The three lights looked at one another and started laughing their hearts out, while Calliope just heaved out a heavy sigh.

"Yare, yare (2). We should just start with this meeting before this conversation gets out of hand." Setsuna declared.

"Setsuna...etou..Calliope and Haruko are here...don't you think we should just start later?" Rei asked.

"Iiye, this is the perfect time to start it."

"Demou!" Rei protested.

"Rei-chan calm down,ne?" Haruko butted in with a smile. She looked at Setsuna and continued, "Setsuna-donou(3) it's not everybody's problem anyway and this meeting is unnecessary. It's my battle and I believe I should be the one to handle this alone, well, together with my starlights ofcourse."

"And me." Mamoru added.

"We're a team and therefore we should work and fight together." Hotaru commented.

"Wait, wait, wait! What are we talking about here again? Sorry 'cause I think I got lost back there." Usagi suddenly butted in.

"We all did." Amy added.

Everyone, with the exception of the inner soldiers sighed,

"Haruko is...how should I say this..." Setsuna started.

"She is a soldier of the white moon, like us." Hotaru continued.

"Sworn to protect the moon kingdom and the royal family." Mamoru added.

"Haruko is our Princess that we once lost, our dear Princess Persephone. Sister of our young Prince Endymion." Calliope ended.

"NANI?!" everybody exclaimed.

"But that's impossible! Luna told us that there's no way that you could be reincarnated!" Minako exclaimed.

"We can't find your celestial crystal that's why we've given up all our hopes of ever having you back." Luna explained.

"Same reason why we didn't bother to look for you when we were gathering the soldiers." Artemis added.

Haruko smiled weakly and started to explain,

"Long before Sailor Neptune, Pluto and Saturn arrived to help Sailor Venus and Mercury; I have sealed my celestial crystal in a small magic ball and had it disappear into the galaxy. In addition to that, I was in the states when you were gathering the soldiers. I came back here because I kept on having these weird dreams and I also felt a strong power calling me back to Japan."

"It was me." Mamoru butted in. He looked at the girls and continued, "As a matter of fact, the real reason I left last year for America was to look for her there."

"However Galaxia came and got the Prince killed by taking his golden crystal. After all the Galaxia fiasco was over, Helios and I decided not to let him out of the country, besides he has already promised Usagi-sama that he won't leave her again." Calliope suddenly butted in, which earned her the attention of the whole group.

"So who are you and what's your part in this big picture?" Rei asked.

"She is Casseopeia, twin sister of Caleb, she's also known as Sailor Star Protector." Haruko answered.

"And these are Caleb, Soul and Draco, known to all of you as Seiya, Taiki and Yaten respectively." Calliope added.

"No way,...so basically you're Seiya's twin sister?!" Usagi asked in amazement.

Calliope held her hair in a ponytail and exclaimed,

"The one and only!"

"So, whatever happened to you guys? How did you end up with Kakyuu?" Makoto asked.

"Well...." Calliope looked at Mamoru who nodded at her in response. Calliope nodded back and continued, "Three months after the Princess's death, the evil Queen was able to escape from the magic ball. She attacked the Celestial Palace and Prince Endymion had no choice but to send us out of the planet in order to keep us alive. I insisted on staying behind because I have promised Princess Persephone that I will protect the Prince and the kingdom no matter what. I was reincarnated here and with the help of Helios I was able to regain my identity."

"Thanks to Calliope, I mean, to Casseopeia's magic, we lost our memories and our lights died. We were re-born when Princess Kakyuu was able to break her spell." Taiki added.

"Spoken like the Soul we know and remember!" Minako exclaimed.

"So...what's up?" Rei asked.

"Akashtra has returned and as usual she is after our Princess and the Celestial Crystal yet again." Seiya answered.

"So you have the celestial crystal with you now Haruko?" Usagi asked.

Haruko nodded and shifted her attention back to Setsuna.

"I don't want any of you getting into anymore trouble. As I've told you this is our battle and our battle alone."

Haruka suddenly huffed and said,

"Stubborn and stupid as ever."

Everybody turned to him.

"What has gotten into you Hauka? She's still your sister after all!" Makoto exclaimed.

"Whatever." Haruka replied as he started to walk towards the door.

"Where are you going Haruka? We're not done yet." Setsuna warned.

"I'm not needed here. Besides, you heard the Earth Princess, it's their battle so don't count me in."

Haruka grabbed the temple's door and slid it open but before stepping out Hotaru asked,

"Are you going to abandon us again like you did in the past?"

Haruka was shocked to hear Hotaru's question. He lowered his head and replied,

"Leave me alone."

With that he left the temple, riding his silver jaguar convertible.

**Chapter 13 **

**Confessions**

Haruka drove off into the mountains getting as far as he could with his car. Stopping at the cliff over viewing the city, he sat on top of his car's hood and silently looked at the glittering lights of the city below.

After the meeting, Yaten asked Mamoru if he could talk to him privately and the latter agreed. Sitting at one of Crown's booths, Mamoru and Yaten talked while wating for their order.

"What is it that you wanted Yaten?"

Yaten heaved out a heavy sigh and started,

"First of all I think I would appreciate it if all of you would start calling me Draco again, it is my given name after all."

"Okay I'll remember that but I don't think the girls would. Leave the name-calling to me, would that be okay?"

"Fair enough, but I will still ask them to do the same." Draco replied.

"Whatever suits you. So what is it that you really wanted to tell me, Draco?"

Draco looked at him seriously and replied,

"I want to let you know that I am in love with our sister and that I would want to court her. As her real brother I just wanted you to know that and if as Prince Endymion you would decide to punish me, then I'll accept it, but I'll continue my courtship anyway."

Mamoru was stunned to see and hear Draco's honesty and determination. He merely sighed and looked at Draco's eyes with the same amount of seriousness and replied,

"I have nothing against what you have just said and besides I've already known about your feelings for my sister a long time ago."

"What do you mean..?" Draco asked in surprise.

Mamoru smiled as he rested his chin on his right hand and explained,

"I usually catch you hiding behind the bushes of the palace gardens, watching her, admiring her from afar."

Feeling embarrassed that his prince had caught him before, Draco blushed furiously. Mamoru laughed when he saw Draco's flushed face and added,

"Don't be embarrassed Draco, I used to hide behind the moon palace's gardens as well just to spy on Princess Serenity. It's quite normal I guess."

Draco smiled and nodded as he said,

"I better get going. Haruko's probably waiting for me."

"I bet. Ja ne (4)."

"Ja.(5)"

As soon as Draco left, Mamoru pulled out his cellphone and called up Haruka. After an hour and a half Haruka arrived,

"What do you want?"

"Why don't you sit down and we'll talk over a cup of coffee." Mamoru replied as he placed his book on the table.

Haruka sat across Mamoru leisurely and ordered Irish coffee from the waitress.

"Come on Mamoru I don't have time, I need to get home." Haruka finally said the moment their orders arrived.

Mamoru sighed and replied,

"A while ago Yaten, I mean Draco asked for my blessings. He finally told me that he's in love with my sister and that he would court her no matter the consequences may be. Haruka I know for a fact that ever since you first met my sister you already loved her and I can no longer decide who my sister will choose, unlike before. All I can do is to talk her out of it if I feel like she's making a wrong decision."

Haruka smirked and asked,

"What are you trying to get at Mamoru?"

"Listen to me Haruka. If you still love my sister and you still care for her then go ahead and be her prince in shining armor and whisk her away from anybody else who would want to take her. I never really had anything against you, well of course except for that one time you let her die but then again..." Mamoru sighs and continues, "I guess what I'm trying to say Haruka is that Perephone loves you so much and I know you feel the same. Forget the past and be with the woman who loves you more than anything else. Make her happy Haruka, I know you can."

Haruka raised an eyebrow and laughed out loud.

"Are you serious?! You must be joking! Have you forgotten that in this world she is my biological sister?! You can make the funniest jokes Mamoru. Besides, even if she weren't my sister I would never love someone as annoying as her. I'd never...."

"Haruka..."

"Whatever Mamoru, this conversation is over."

Haruka stood up and prepared to leave but Mamoru held him by the wrist and said,

"Mark my words Haruka, you will regret it."

"Tch."

Haruka shrugged it off and pulled his wrist from Mamoru's grip. As Mamoru watched Haruka's convertible drive off into the night Mamoru can't help but say to himself,

'How could I ever make a stone listen to the soft voice of the wind?'

_Tsuzuku…_

A/N:

From this point on forward Yaten will be referred to as Draco…with the exception of some characters.

(1) Mou = could be a variation of 'Demou' but also usually used by a person who want  
to beg or compel someone else to do what they ask of them.

(2) yare yare = could mean "okay okay"; usually used to dismiss a previous  
conversation.

(3) donou = affixed to the name of someone that is highly respected by the person  
speaking.

(4) Ja ne. = informal way of saying "see you later"; "later!"

(5) Ja = common response to Ja ne. "Later.


	15. Chapter 14 and 15

Of love and Fate

souna no miko

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all original characters mentioned in this story is owned by the great Takeuchi Naoko. There is no way I would claim them as my own. The song/s that will be used as part of the story are not mine either, they are owned by their respective writers and singers.

Chapter 14

**The Giggling Hotaru**

It was already Monday and it's a new fresh week, birds were chirping in the birdbath outside the house and the sun was already up and shinning brightly as ever. Haruko was already dressing up when Setsuna knocked on her door and called her for breakfast. After five minutes she was down the stairs and inside the dining room where her brother was sitting comfortably reading the morning paper.

"Ohayou gozaimasu minna-san. (Goodmorning everyone)" She greeted.

"Ohayou." Hotaru and Setsuna greeted back.

"Ohayou Haru-chan. It's a good thing you woke up early today." Michiru greeted.

"It's already 7:30...you call this early?! So I guess when I woke up at around 5:30 in the morning I was waking up in the middle of the night. Is it just me or is my watch too advanced?" Haruka commented without looking up from the paper he was reading.

Haruko glared at her brother and sat down beside Hotaru who was already enjoying her food,

"Perhaps you're just too obsessive compulsive when it comes to punctuality. For your information my class starts at 8:10." Haruko replied.

"It's better to be early and on time than be late." Haruka answered back.

"Whoever said anything about being late?" Haruko demanded.

Haruka sighed and concluded,

"You're saying nonsense."

Haruko stood up and slammed her hands on the table saying,

"That's it Tenou Haruka, I've had enough!"

Haruko grabbed her obento from Michiru's hands and stormed out of the house fuming. When she left, Michiru recieved a message from Haruko in her cellphone,

- Thnx 4 lunch Michi!

Michiru sighed and served Haruka and Setsuna their breakfast when all of a sudden Hotaru started giggling.

"What's so funny Hotaru?" Setsuna asked.

Hotaru continued giggling and tried so hard to say these words in between her giggles,

"It's gonna be..." another giggle, "It's gonna be fun watching those two fight over the simplest things..." giggles, "…They even fight over time now!"

Haruka placed his paper beside his plate and looked at Hotaru quite surprised,

"What has gotten into you?" Haruka asked.

Hotaru stopped giggling and became serious as she said,

"But then again, I see dark clouds approaching and it means serious danger for all of us. We may have fun but we must always keep our senses open so that we will not neglect our duties as soldiers. We must make sure that we will not be able to let anything bad happen to our Princess and to Persephone as well...."

"Hotaru's right, we must look after one another." Setsuna seconded as she looked at Haruka.

Haruka avoided Setsuna's eyes and instead he started eating his breakfast. Hotaru started giggling again, and once again in between her giggles came these words,

"This is gonna be more interesting than the animes and doramas I watch on TV! I'm gonna love this!"

Hotaru kept on giggling until she fell of her chair.

"Hotaru!" Michiru exclaimed.

"Get up from there young lady!" Setsuna ordered

Haruka peeked at the giggling Hotaru and just shook his head with a sigh.

Chapter 15

**Draco's Invitation**

It was already ten minutes before 8:00 when Haruko arrived at school. She saw Draco staring out the window so she approached him very quietly.

"Ohayou Gozaimasu!" Haruko shouted which startled the platinum haired idol.

Draco jumped from his seat and turned to face Haruko as he exclaimed,

"What the heck are you trying to do, kill me?!"

Haruko smiled slyly and looked at the ceiling,

"Well...that's not a bad idea but then again I'd be losing one guardian so...." Haruko replied with a giggle.

"Omae...(You…)"

Draco grabbed Haruko and started tickling her. In between her laughs she managed to say these words,

"Yamero Yaten-kun! Onegai! Yameru! (Stop it Yaten-kun! Please! Stop it!)"

Draco stopped his childishness and went back to staring out the window. Haruko noticed the sudden change of attitude and sat on top of Soul's desk, which was beside Draco's.

"Doushta no Yaten-kun? (What's wrong Yaten-kun?)"

"You called me by that name again."

Haruko tilted her head to her side and wondered what the other meant; laughing the moment she realized what it was.

"Gomene Draco-kun demou...Yaten-kun rolls out of my tongue much better than Draco-kun, ne?"

"Hmph."

"Maa, you're still touchy as you were before, fine I'll go find a way to make Draco sound cute. What about Drakey, or Dra-kun...nah sounds like Dragon or even Dracu as in Dracula...oh man...."

Haruko began to rampage her brain for possible variations of Draco's name. Draco rolled his eyes as he simply sighed and said,

"Fine, you don't have to exhaust your brain looking for the right one. You could call me Yaten if you'd really like to, but you're the only one allowed to do so alright?"

"Yay!" Haruko squealed in delight as she threw her arms around Draco.

Draco turned his head to face Haruko and with their faces inches away from each other they were caught in each other's steady gaze. Draco began to move closer and closer to Haruko ready to lay his lips on hers when all of a sudden the school bell rang and all the other students entered the classroom and everybody settled down and so did Draco and Haruko.

Haruko can't keep herself focused on what their teacher was blabbering about; all she could think of was the previous events between her and Draco.

'I was going to let him kiss me! What was I thinking?!' Haruko thought to herself.

She started fidgeting with her ball pen as she continued talking to herself,

'But on second thought, he _is_ kind of cute...kind of thoughtful...maybe he could....' Haruko paused as she looked outside the window and with a heavy sigh she continued, '...demou...I don't love him. I _might_ like him but to love him is....' Haruko shook her head violently until their teacher noticed her actions.

"Ms. Tenou, daijoubu desu ka? (Ms. Tenou are you okay?)"

Haruko was startled and caused her to immediately stand up,

"Gomene sensei my head was spinning." She reasoned out.

"Would you like to go to the clinic?"

"Iiye. I think I'm okay now."

"Very well then. Now take your seat."

"Hai." Haruko replied as she sat back down on to her chair.

Lunchtime,

"Ikemasho Haru-chan!" Usagi yelled from the door.

"I'll be right behind you!" Haruko shouted back.

"Okay!" Usagi replied as she left with the other girls leaving Haruko behind.

Suddenly Draco entered the room, standing right behind the busy Haruko.

"Y-yaten-kun you startled me!"

"Gomene."

Draco moved in front of Haruko and sat on top of her desk,

"Sorry about what happened this morning..." Draco started.

"Iiye. Nande mo nai, dakara shinpai nai yo Yaten-kun, ne?" (No. It's nothing, that's why you shouldn't worry, okay Yaten-kun?) Haruko replied with a smile.

Draco stammered for a while until,

"Listen Haruko, I was wondering if you would like to go on a picnic with me...I mean just to take your mind off of things and to apologize for what happened this morning."

"Like a date?"

Draco blushed and looked out the window as he replied,

"Uhm well not really...kinda like a friendly outing....err..uhm..picnic. You know, like a princess-guardian bonding thing."

Haruko laughed and looked at Draco with a smile.

"Yeah sure. I'd love to." Haruko replied.

Draco's eyes widened as his heart jumped for joy.

"For real?!"

"Yes. For real."

"Saturday then?" Draco asked.

"Pick me up at 8:30" Haruko replied with a wink.

Yaten nodded softly and together they left the classroom to go where the other girls were.

_Tsuzuku…_


	16. Chapter 16

Of love and Fate

souna no miko

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all original characters mentioned in this story is owned by the great Takeuchi Naoko. There is no way I would claim them as my own. The song/s that will be used as part of the story are not mine either, they are owned by their respective writers and singers.

Chapter 16 The Dream

Somewhere in the ancient ruins of the celestial kingdom, Psyche the third general of Akashtra was sleeping soundly inside her chamber. She was dreaming a peculiar dream where in the celestial palace with all its glory is still standing tall, and the royal family was still alive. Looking around her she saw a tall young lady about 16 years of age with long brown hair wearing a long light yellow gown and was playing with the young prince. Psyche was wondering as to how she could recognize the faces of the royal family, most especially the young Prince Endymion whom she has never met before. She was standing in front of them and yet they cannot see her, it's as if she was invisible. She walked towards them to watch the young girl and the young prince play and quietly listened to their giggles and laughter. Suddenly Queen Cagalli arrived carrying the fragile baby princess in her arms. The girl and the prince approached the Queen and gave their respects. Psyche watched as the Queen of Earth hands over the baby Princess to her son and called for the girl. Curiosity overwhelming Psyche, she followed them to the throne room.

"Why did you call for me my Queen?"

"Callisto, what is your duty in my court?"

"Uhmm...my duty is to make sure that the prince and princess are well taken care of."

Queen Cagalli smiled as she replied,

"I called for you so you will know the true reason as to why you are a part of my court. Callisto, I know you are well aware that our kingdom thrives in the power and protection of the celestial crystal, without it our world will see its end. Only a maiden with a pure heart could become the crystal's keeper and you are aware that I was chosen to become its keeper long before I became Queen, correct?"

Callisto nodded in response.

"My daughter has been chosen to become its new keeper but she is too young to handle such a task, therefore the gods have chosen a temporary keeper to take care of the crystal until my daughter is able to take on the responsibility and that chosen maiden is you."

The Queen closed her eyes and stretched her hands infront of her. A transparent crystal appeared and it shined brightly than the sun.

"Callisto, take good care of the crystal and when Persephone reaches the age of 18 give her the crystal and stay by her side to help her create a peaceful and better world for all of us."

The crystal floated towards Callisto and the young girl accepted it graciously.

Psyche was awed at what she has just seen. Suddenly everything around her became black and in nothingness she stood alone.

"I wonder where I am now." Psyche whispered to no one in particular.

Then in an instant she was back at the palace's throne room. This time the room was full of people, people in black dresses and tuxedos. She looked up and saw Callisto standing beside the seven-year old princess and the twelve-year old prince. Psyche looked closely at the princess and saw her crying in her brother's arms who was holding her protectively. Somehow Psyche knew that the prince was simply putting up at face, never shedding a single tear. She looked around her and noticed that everyone in the room were either crying, bawling or just plain sad. She listened to their conversations and discovered that the King and Queen were killed in an accident. After discovering that, Psyche suddenly felt something that bothered her and made her wonder. She was feeling sad and sorry for the young prince and princess. Her heart ached at the sight of the crying princess and the brave prince who refused to shed a tear for his parent's death. She wanted to run to them and comfort them as much as she could. Soon tears fell from Psyche's eyes, unnoticed.

Her surroundings suddenly became black and once again she was alone in the middle of nothingness.

"Psyche...."

Someone suddenly called to her. It was a warm, comforting voice she knew she had heard before.

"Who are you?" Psyche asked as black flame came out from her right hand.

"Why the tears my dear child?"

Psyche's eyes grew big in shock as she quickly touched her face, finally feeling the dampness of her face and the coldness of her tears. She quickly wipes them away with the back of her hand.

"So I have tears in my eyes who cares?! Look, I'm a black flame user and I know a number of black magic so I hope you know who you're dealing with."

"Black magic is not what you used to have my dear girl"

"What do you mean?!"

A young woman with long black hair, wearing a virginal white gown appeared. She stretched her hands towards Psyche as she said,

"Come with me and you shall see what I mean and from there you decide whatever you would want to do and whoever you would want to serve."

Psyche reluctantly took the woman's hand but something deep inside of her trusted the woman. Slowly she lifted her arms and placed her hand on the elegant woman's hand and they both disappeared.

_Tsuzuku…_


	17. Chapter 17

Of love and Fate

souna no miko

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all original characters mentioned in this story is owned by the great Takeuchi Naoko. There is no way I would claim them as my own. The song/s that will be used as part of the story are not mine either, they are owned by their respective writers and singers.

Chapter 17

**Saturday the 13**

The week passed by swiftly without any of the girls noticing. At the Tenou household, silence remained to be their constant guest. Not one of the four outer senshis wanted to speak about what had transpired the previous weekend, the subject was too delicate and they knew that opening it with either one of the Tenou siblings, Haruka in particular, would create total chaos that not even Hotaru's ability to end all life on a planet would be able to put an end on. The two siblings also made it a point to stay away from each other, making sure that they were not in the same room at the same time— Haruka making all the effort of doing this.

Saturday, 5:25am, the Tenou household is already almost empty. Setsuna, being the usual early bird, has already left for her Saturday class at the university. Hotaru was at a sleepover the previous night and is not expected to be home 'til tomorrow.

Haruko, clad in her light lavender silk night top and shorts sleepily walked inside the kitchen only to find Michiru busily preparing pancakes for breakfast.

"You're up early today Michi." Haruko commented after a wide long yawn.

"I have a practice for my next recital in an hour and a half."

"That's early." Haruko replied as she sat on a chair by the counter.

"Yeah well, we're running out of time. You?"

"Yaten and I are going on a picnic with the others today. You know, princess-guardians bonding thing. I have to cook our food before they get here."

"Don't you mean Draco?"

Haruko smiled as she laid her head on top of the counter,

"Yaten, Draco, whatever. He told me I can call him whatever I like and I choose Yaten."

Michiru smiled as she rolled her eyes while flipping the pancake.

"By the way, does Haruka know about this trip?"

"No."

"You should tell him. He's still your biological brother and he'll always worry about you no matter what. And I bet his worry leveled up to the nth power when he discovered who you really are." Michiru paused for a moment before adding, "A part of him is still Alexis and that part cares for you very much."

Ignoring Michiru's statement Haruko took a bite off of a pancake before asking,

"So where's the little runt anyway?"

Michiru sighed,

"He already left for the race tracks. I think he's planning to join the next F1 race."

"That's good to know, he's been out the circuit for quite some time now. I wonder if he had a hard time signing back in."

"He's a crowd favorite. He didn't have any problem at all, especially when he ran a lap for the committee."

"Show-off." Haruko huffed before continuing, "Well at least he's back to racing. Man I miss the track."

Michiru chuckled and said,

"I think so too. Why don't you join him?"

"Michi!" Haruko replied, jokingly displaying an appalled look upon Michiru's remark.

Michiru laughed as she turned off the stove and placed the last pancake on top of the stack of pancakes she had previously finished cooking.

"Anyway, going back, tell Haruka where you're going today so he wouldn't launch the whole battalion looking for you."

"I'll leave a note before leaving."

Michiru grabbed the cordless phone from the wall and gave it to Haruko.

"Call your brother and tell him where you'll be for the day."

"Michi I—"

"Call him."

Haruko sighed as she took the phone from Michiru. They both waited as Haruka's cellphone rang.

"Voicemail." Haruko said after the call was diverted.

"Leave a message then."

Haruko stared at Michiru annoyingly but was once again defeated. Haruko sighed,

"Hey Ruka, it's me, Haru. Listen, I'll be out the whole day with Yaten, I mean Draco, and the others. We'll be going on a picnic so…" Haruko paused for a moment, looked at Michiru and continued, "I'll be home by 4 or 5pm I guess. That's all…goodluck on the track today." Haruka added that last sentence but spoke it to almost a whisper.

After giving back the phone to Michiru, Haruko sighs as she begins eating.

Michiru left at around 6:15 am and Haruko was just starting to chop vegetable, hotdogs, and chicken breasts. Her menu – which she carefully planned until 12 midnight of the previous night – consisted of onigiri, hotdog octopuses, breaded chicken strips, omelet rolls, vegetable sticks with sour cream and thousand island dips at the side, and clubhouse sandwiches.

By 7:54 she was already done. She smiled blissfully as she finished the obento for the vegetables when suddenly the doorbell rang. Imagine the surprise on Haruko's face when she opened the door and see the smallest starlight standing on their porch.

"Ohayou Haruko-chan."

"Yaten…you're…early…" Haruko, not able to contain her surprise, replied.

"Sorry. I could come back later if you want to. I was just –"

"It's okay." Haruko cut off, "Come on in. I just finished cooking our food so I'm not really dressed yet, but I'll be finished in a few minutes. Where are the others?"

"It's okay, take your time. The others? It'll be just you and I…I told that didn't I?"

Haruko was stunned. She didn't think that Draco's idea of picnic was something that's just between the two of them.

"I cooked a lot of food." Haruko replied wide-eyed.

"I'll eat them all then!" Draco replied enthusiastically.

Haruko sighed and just told Draco to wait for her in the kitchen. After giving Draco a cup of coffee and a plate of pancakes – which were leftovers from what Michiru prepared earlier – she quickly ran upstairs to take a bath and get dressed.

After 30 minutes she finally went down wearing a black tank top, khaki shorts, and purple hi-cut 'chuck taylor' converse shoes.

"Ikimassho!"

"Hai!" Draco replied with equal energy but with higher excitement as he carried the basket out to the shiny new black car waiting outside

"Ho-shit…" Haruko managed to say under her shocked breath after stopping dead on her tracks.

Draco smiled widely when he followed Haruko's line of sight.

"Is that what I think it is??" Haruko asked breathlessly.

"It depends…if you know your cars." Draco replied with a sickeningly wide smile.

"Are you kidding me?! I race for crying out loud! And on top of that both Haruka and I are car enthusiasts!" Haruko exclaimed exasperated, Draco flinching at the mention of Haruka's name.

Draco smiled as he walked towards the back of the car to try and fit the medium sized basket inside his new car's trunk.

"Sure, everybody can say that. But do you really know what it is?" Draco teased.

Haruko raised her brow and replied in a calm manner,

"You have an Aston Martin Vanquish S. It has a five-point-nine liter V12 engine with the power of five hundred twenty horsepower at seven thousand revolutions per minute. It can accelerate from 0 to 62 miles per hour in just four-point-_oh_ seconds and can run a top speed of two hundred and four miles per hour. When did you get it? And How?? It's not supposed to be on sale here 'til December of this year."

"You sure do know your cars. Well I got extra cash from our last gig so I figured why not get myself a new car." Draco commented as he successfully managed to stuff the basket.

"Okay, I can see the logic in there…buthow _did_ you get it??"

Draco peeked from the trunk to give Haruko a big wide devious smile before replying,

"It's not being sold here yet, but it already is in Europe, so…."

"…so you had it shipped?!" Haruko asked incredulously.

"Yep."

"Damn it Yaten you're unbelievable, Ruka would have flipped when he saw you with this. He's more of a sports car enthusiast you know….Ruka would love to try this baby out for a spin." Haruko said absent-mindedly as she stared at the car.

Draco pouted and deliberately slammed the trunk to get Haruko's attention, which he did. Haruko snapped out of her reverie, half ran to the passenger's seat where Draco was already politely holding the door for her. With a quick turn of the key the engine purred to life and they were finally off to the lake.

Haruka just finished his 3rd run on the tracks before deciding to take a breather. He went to the locker room and was surprised to find both Taiki and Calliope.

"Ohayou." Taiki greeted.

Haruka with his eyes wide in shock regained his composure and asked,

"You race?"

"Once in a while." Taiki shrugged.

"And you?" Haruka asked referring to the lady standing beside Taiki.

"Yes." Calliope replied.

"I didn't know that."

"Well apparently you don't know anything do you?" Taiki snapped.

Haruka's eyes shot a sharp glare at Taiki who just chuckled at his glare.

"You sure have gotten your sharp tongue back….Soul."

"Don't call me that. I find it really primeval. No need to dwell in the past."

"Tss…you should say that to Yaten."

"Draco. He prefers that now."

"I know. And you agree with it?"

"_'To each his own'_ I always say. If he wants that then let him."

Haruka just 'hmph'-ed in response.

"Your turn during the 7th lap of your 2nd run was quite good." Calliope remarked.

"Thanks." Haruka muttered.

After saying that the golden brown haired bishounen noticed that his phone was flashing and excused himself from the conversation,

"Moshi Moshi."

"Haruka-papa, doko wa? (Where are you Haruka-papa?)"

"Hotaru? Why are you asking?"

"I wanted to ask you if you could bring my books here at Takiko's place. I forgot to bring them and she wanted to borrow them. They're neatly stacked at the top of my study table."

"I'm at the tracks today Hotaru, why don't you call home and ask someone else to bring it to you?"

"No one's at home Haruka-papa, didn't you know?"

"Know what?" Haruka's eyes narrowed.

"Setsuna-bachan(1) has a Saturday class. Michiru-mama has practice and Haruko-nesan is having a picnic with her starlights."

Haruka quickly eyed Taiki and Calliope who were busy tightening their protective gears.

"Did you say she was with her starlights?"

"Hai."

"All of them?"

"That's the idea."

Haruka's eyes fell in the shadows as his hand curled into a tight fist.

"I'll try to bring it to you before dinner." Haruka said in the calmest manner he could.

"Okay. Thank you Haruka-papa!" Hotaru beamed before letting go of the line.

Haruka turned to the two starlights and said,

"Taiki, Calliope let's talk."

At the Music Repertoire, the studio where Michiru was currently practicing, Michiru was patiently tuning her violin when someone suddenly came into the room apologizing for his tardiness. Recognizing the voice, Michiru turned around only to confirm what she had feared,

"Seiya what are you doing here?!" Michiru asked angrily.

"Whoa Michiru I'm sorry if you don't want to be in the same room with me but I have practice here too."

"You being in the same room with me is not the problem. What are you doing here??"

"I told you, I have practice. So wait, what _is_ the problem then?"

"Haruko told me she's going to have a picnic with you….all four of you."

"No she's not."

"Well obviously. How could this happen? How could she lie to me? But most importantly, where is she??"

"The picnic you're probably thinking of is the one Draco's having with her at the lake."

"What?"

"Last Monday, Draco asked her to go on a picnic today."

"But why did she tell me that she'll be with all of you?"

"Hmm….I don't know exactly but I have a feeling that that's probably a misunderstanding. You know how it is with Haruko, sometimes you need to tell her everything in detail or else she'll just assume things. Draco probably forgot to tell her that it was just the two of them who was going to have a picnic. Either that or Haruko totally forgot he said that or she missed it when Draco asked her out."

Michiru contemplated the possibilities that Seiya presented and came up with the conclusion that everything he had just said is indeed a possibility when it comes to Haruko. She was amazed for a moment at how much Seiya knows Haruko already; considering that they've only met a few weeks ago. She was about to ask him about that when a dangerous thought suddenly crossed Michiru's mind,

"Shit."

"What? What's shit?" Seiya asked in panic.

"Where are Taiki and Calliope?"

"They went to the race track early this morning."

"They race?" Michiru asked, side-tracked by the thought that mild mannered Taiki races.

"Yeah they do. Taiki actually is a good racer and in fact I think he wants to—"

"Which race track?" Michiru interrupted once she regained her focus, her dangerous thought was too frightening for her to be completely side-tracked.

"The one near the docks, why?"

"Double shit."

"What is it?? You're making me worry princess."

"You should be, because if Haruka finds out that Haruko is alone with Draco…" Michiru trailed off but Seiya already knew what she was thinking and ended her sentence for her,

"…he will kill somebody…"

"Exactly."

It just took Haruko and Draco an hour and a half to get to the lake. Draco quickly laid out the cloth for them to sit on and Haruko brought out all the obentos she prepared that morning. Draco sat beside Haruko, staring at the wide array of food laid out in front of him.

"Boy when you said you cooked a lot of food you sure weren't kidding."

"I told you. It's a pity if we just let them all go to waste."

"Don't worry they won't be wasted. Besides we can bring the leftovers back home and I'll make sure Soul and Caleb would get to taste your delicious food."

"Soul and Caleb? Did Seiya and Taiki asked to be called by their original names too??"

Draco frowned and replied,

"Oh yeah I forgot, no they didn't."

"Yaten, why are you so obsessed with your original name anyway? I mean, Yaten Kou is a pretty good name and everybody's used to that so why choose to change it?"

"I just don' want to forget who I really am

"Why?"

"Because…"

"Because?"

Draco looked away from Haruko's probing eyes and turned to grab an onigiri,

"Hey this rice ball looks so yummy!"

Haruko, not wanting to ruin the day, rolled her eyes and decided to drop the subject. She picked up an onigiri her self and exclaimed,

"Itedakimasu!!! (Let's eat!!!)"

While packing up her violin Michiru's phone started flashing, reluctantly she answered it.

"Moshi Mo-"

"Michiru did you know where Haruko is going today?!" Haruka's voice suddenly blared through the receiver that Michiru had to pull her phone away from her ear to prevent her from going deaf.

"Calm down Haruka I-"

"So you knew and you didn't tell me?!" Haruka barked.

"I asked her to call you and she did, check your voicemail."

"I already did but she said that she'll be with her starlights, all of her starlights; and do you know who are standing right beside me??"

Michiru sighed as she prepared to reply but Seiya suddenly appeared behind her and answered,

"You're with Taiki and Calliope. Hey guys, how's the track?"

"Hey Seiya, it's great." Taiki and Calliope replied in unison.

Haruka's eyes swelled in anger as he howled,

"Seiya?! What the hell are you doing with Michiru?!"

"I have practice where she's having her recital practice."

"Why are you listening to our conversation?!"

"I'm not actually, but you're shouting loud enough it makes you sound like you're on speakerphone." Seiya replied casually which evidently pissed the other man greatly.

"Where the hell are they?!" Haruka growled.

"How should I know? But I do remember Draco mentioning the lake two days ago."

"Which lake?"

"I don't know but it's probable that they're at the lake going to Mt. Orime. Just a hunch though."

Haruka glared at the two starlight guardians beside him but they just shrugged at him innocently.

"Listen Haruka, we really don't know where they are, did you try calling Haruko?"

"Yes but she's not answering."

"She probably left her phone on top of the kitchen counter again." Michiru whispered under her breath.

"Did you hear that?" Seiya asked.

"Yes. I asked Taiki and Calliope to call that Yaten…"

"Draco." Seiya corrected.

"Asshole fits better." Haruka snapped back.

"Can't argue about that." Seiya replied matter-of-factly, his eyes looking up at the ceiling.

"He's not answering."

"That's because his phone is with me. He left it this morning as he hurriedly and excitedly left the apartment. When I learned from Michiru what happened I decided not to answer his phone anymore."

"Damn it I'm going to kill that guy."

"Calm down Haruka. It's probably nobody's fault. As I've said to Michiru Haruko must've forgotten that the picnic was just between the two of them, or she missed it when Draco asked her out. Either that or Draco forgot to explain it to Haruko. Either way they're both at fault so don't blame everything on Draco."

"That's easy for you to say."

"No it's not. One is my princess whom I've sworn to protect and the other is my subordinate who I also have a responsibility of taking care of. On top of that I have to stay civil while relating to other hyper emotional soldiers such as you."

Michiru giggled at Seiya's remark but admired him for his composure – the mark of a true leader, something that Haruka lacked.

"I'm sorry if Draco disrespected you as Haruko's biological brother. I'll be sure to reprimand him but you don't' have to worry, Draco is still a starlight and he will not let anything bad happen to her."

Haruka felt a tinge of pain when Seiya said_ 'Haruko's biological brother'_ but he did his best to hide it from the two starlight guardians that were with him.

"What time did she say they might be back?"

"4 or 5pm." Haruka replied, a bit calmer than a few minutes ago.

"Then expect them to be home by then. If not then you have all the right to get mad."

"But still I can't be sure that—"

"As I've said, Draco is a starlight and with his knowledge of his duty plus the feelings he has for her I am positive that he will not let anything bad happen to Haruko."

Haruka was once again shot with a pang of pain, words circling around his head.

…_the feelings he has for her….Haruko's biological brother…not let anything happen…_

"Haruka?" Seiya called for the 3rd time.

Haruka, snapping out of his trance regained his stern composure and replied,

"Sure, whatever."

Haruka clicked the end button and stomped away to go to the race tracks leaving the two starlights who started laughing out loud the second they were sure he was out of range.

Seiya heaved a long heavy sigh before handing Michiru back her cell phone. He slowly fell on his knees and warily sat on the floor.

"Daijoubu desu ka Seiya-san? (Are you okay Seiya?)" Michiru asked worriedly.

When she moved to Seiya's front she saw how tormented his facial expression was. He slumped on floor haphazardly before shifting his eyes to meet Michiru's own blue hues.

"That was the scariest thing I have ever done in my entire two lives. He made dealing with Galaxia and Akashtra a walk in the park." Seiya said, still in a daze.

One look at Seiya's face made Michiru start a fit. She sat messily in front of Seiya, the fabric of her dress scattered scantily on the floor, laughing so hard tears came out her eyes.

Seiya looked at Michiru and smiled, it has been a long time since he last saw her like this, billions and zillions of years ago, when she was his maiden.

It was already past 3pm when Draco asked Haruko if she already wanted to go home but Haruko asked if they could stay until the stars come out. It's been a long time since she had a good look at the stars, she reasoned. Happy to be with her longer than planned, Draco graciously agreed. Forgetting the time, they left the lake at around 9:30pm without stopping somewhere to call home.

_Tsuzuku…_

A/N:

(1) bachan = short for obachan which means grandma or old lady, affixed to the name  
to insinuate that the person is old.


	18. Chapter 18

Of love and Fate

souna no miko

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all original characters mentioned in this story is owned by the great Takeuchi Naoko. There is no way I would claim them as my own. The song/s that will be used as part of the story are not mine either, they are owned by their respective writers and singers.

Chapter 18

**Slip of the Tongue**

It just took Haruko and Draco forty five minutes to get home, but by that time it was already too late. Haruka was standing on the porch— Michiru stood behind him looking all worried— with his arms folded in front of his chest. His face showed no trace of anger —extremely unreadable, ultimately clear of expressions— which Haruko recognized as something even more dangerous and scarier than just having to deal with the expression-full face of Haruka. Not even the sight of the elegant luxury sports car could rattle Haruka's mood.

The minute she stepped out of the black Aston Martin she quickly opened her mouth to reason with Haruka but Haruka simply stared at her, face void of expressions, and said,

"Go to your room."

"But Ruka I—"

"Go up to your room."

"Haruka aren't you being too—"

"Don't meddle with this Michiru. Both of you, inside."

Michiru just looked at Haruka worriedly before taking Haruko's hand and retreating inside the house with her. The moment the girls were out of sight Haruka unfolded his arms and said in a low stern voice,

"Don't you ever do that again."

"Do what? I just took her to the lake and had a picnic with her. It's not like we got married or anything."

Haruka's face twitched as rage started to boil within him the minute he heard what the platinum haired idol said — He wanted to kill him right then and there— he took a deep sigh to try and calm himself,

"It's past 10pm, what kind of picnic is that?"

"She said she wanted to see the stars so we waited until it was already dark. We lost track of time, left at around 9:30 and got here at, well would you look at that, we got here a quarter past 10." Draco replied in an annoyed and sarcastic tone.

Haruka's fingers twitched as the urge to curl his hand into a fist and knock the hell out of this arrogant boy intensified. But the image of Haruko flashed in his mind so again he took a deep calming sigh as he tried to dismiss the conversation,

"Just don't do it again."

"Do what?"

"That thing you did." Haruka replied vaguely.

"What did I do?" Draco pressed.

"Just…" Haruka paused, noticing that anger was beginning to be evident in his tone he tried to suppress it before continuing, "…don't do it." Haruka ended as he turned to enter the house, but the other man just won't let the topic go.

"Just don't do what?"

Anger, hurt, fear and hate finally overwhelming him, Haruka turned around and roared impulsively,

"Just don't take her away from me!"

Draco's eyes widened in shock and so did Haruka's.

"What did you say?"

'Why did I say that??' Haruka asked himself.

"Nothing."

"No, you said 'don't take her away….'"

"I meant don't take her without permission and next time bring her home in time for dinner or at least for dessert."

"No. You specifically said to not to take her away from you…..You are…"

"Forget what I said. I didn't mean for it to come out that way. I just want her to be home by 9pm and I want to know where she is and who she's with."

"You're afraid I'll take her from you…because you still…" Draco continued.

"I said shut it Draco." Haruka butted in.

Draco smirked before asking,

"You still love her don't you?"

"She's my sister." Haruka defended.

"She's Persephone." Draco replied flatly.

"Not anymore. Persephone is dead. Haruko is just a re-incarnation of the soldier, like you and I."

"She's the same person as she is before. A bit stronger and braver but I know she's the same Persephone, just like Usagi is the same Serenity."

"That's nonsense. We aren't what we used to be, we're completely different form who we were before. I'm with Michiru now and if you want to be with Haruko then be my guest. Just respect me as her biological brother and we'll both be okay."

"Are you sure?"

"She's my sister." Haruka replied.

"She's Persephone." Draco replied flatly once again.

"Are we going to go through this again? Leave my residence before I change my mind and throw you out."

Haruka turned his back to go inside his house but before he could, Draco replied,

"You are Alexis just as I am Draco and she is Persephone. If you don't think that way then you wouldn't call me 'Draco' and you would have corrected me when I called her 'Persephone'."

Haruka wanted to answer back and defend himself but Draco has already left, driving away with his new car. Haruka followed the car with his eyes as far as he could before closing the door. He then went upstairs to take a bath before going to bed.

Michiru, who was inside the study room, saw the whole conversation through the Deep Aqua Mirror. She now knows how Haruka really feels and she now knows what she must do, release him from her.

_Tsuzuku…_


	19. Chapter 19

Of love and Fate

souna no miko

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all original characters mentioned in this story is owned by the great Takeuchi Naoko. There is no way I would claim them as my own. The song/s that will be used as part of the story are not mine either, they are owned by their respective writers and singers.

Chapter 19

**The Sacrifice That She Must Make**

Michiru watched as Haruka said those words to Draco,

"_Just don't take her away from me!"_

Tears slowly fell down her eyes. She has remained quiet about the issue at hand ever since they all discovered that Princess Persephone of the Celestial Palace of Earth has been reborn as Tenou Haruka's sister. Along with Persephone's return comes the return of her own forgotten memories. She knew she had no right to keep Haruka to her self now because she knew that from the moment Persephone was back she had lost him.

Michiru touches the mirror and asked it to show her the events that transpired eons ago when they were still living in the Moon Palace.

After Alexis begged Queen Serenity to erase all his memories that included Persephone she too asked the same from her. She also asked for her anger and hatred towards Alexis be erased,

"If I remember how Persephone loved her and how he ignored her I will hate him. If I remember how Persephone died I will hate him even more. If I remember how much I hate him I will kill him. Queen Serenity I beg of you, erase these memories and emotions from me or else I will not be able to work with him. Either that or please permit me to leave my duty as a soldier."

Though against her will, Queen Serenity erased her memories and her negative emotions towards Prince Alexis. She didn't like what happened and what her two outer senshis had asked her to do. But not wanting to lose them both she granted their requests.

Michiru touches the mirror once again before keeping it.

"Alexis and I worked together and we became the best partners known in the Moon Kingdom. So when I was born again in this time and place to regain my duty, I searched for my partner. We fell in love, and Kami-sama knows how much I love Haruka. But now I remember to whom his heart truly belongs to……and I should return him to her." Michiru whispered into the night.

Michiru rested her chin on the palm of her hand as she thought of ways to make Haruka realize who is truly important to him. Soon a melody played in her head,

"datdat daratdat da…." Miichiru hummed.

Slowly a smile graced her beautiful face as she immediately searched for her music notebook. She quickly scribbled note after note until she was satisfied and done.

"I just need words now…

Michiru suddenly turned into chibi mode with a huge sweat drop hanging on her forehead as she said,

"Wait…I think I did this wrong…I think I should have made the lyrics first before the melody."

As if hearing her prayers the phone rang and when she answered it, it was Seiya,

"Thank Kami-sama you called."

"Whoa what's up Michiru? I've never heard you this enthusiastic upon hearing me over the line before."

"Why did you call?"

"I wanted to talk to Haruko, if that's okay with you onegai."

"She's already asleep. I think she got tired because of their picnic."

"Yeah, about that. Listen, I'd like to apologize for what Yaten, I mean Draco, did. Haruka's right. They should've called and told you guys they'd be running late. On top of that, Draco himself should've told Haruka that he and Haruko would be going out."

"It's okay."

"So, you didn't answer my question, What's up?"

Michiru paused for a minute to gather her thoughts until finally she replied,

"Seiya, do you seriously think that Persephone would eventually fall for Draco?"

"What's on your mind princess?"

"Well…It's pretty obvious that Persephone's feelings for Alexis are very much alive and I know that Alexis is still inside Haruka, and that he still loves her very much. He just couldn't let him self because; One, Persephone is Haruko, his biological sister and two, He's got a big ego."

"You're right about that. So…what's on our mind princess?"

Michiru sighed and said,

"I want them to be okay, I want them to be together."

"But in the eyes of the society they're siblings, how are things going to be okay?"

"Let destiny take its course. In the beginning the society thought of Haruka and I badly because we were two girls in love before the Serenity of the future fixed him, all that matters is that we break Haruka's ego so he could finally tell Persephone how he really feels."

"Wait, Haruka was a girl??" Seiya asked.

Michiru, remembering that they met the three lights after Haruka's transformation giggled at Seiya's tone and replied,

"Yes. Haruka was originally reincarnated as a girl."

"Whoa, must have been the karmic law working."

Michiru laughed at the thought,

"Yeah, maybe so."

"But you said that the Serenity of the future fixed him, how'd that happen?"

"When we escorted Chibiusa, that's Usagi and Mamoru's child, back into the future, Haruka asked Neo Queen Serenity to turn him into a man since it is her original form anyway. The queen laughed at his request but turned him back to a man anyway."

"Ah souka. So Odango and Mamoru would really end up together huh?" Seiya unwittingly said out loud.

Michiru was silenced for a second before she commented,

"Yep. That's why we were so against you before, we feared that you'd change our future and we'd lose Chibiusa. We all have learned to love that little girl and Hotaru would be very put out if Chibiusa isn't born.

"Nah it's okay. I get it now and besides I wouldn't want our prince to kill me do I? So again, what's on your mind princess?"

Michiru laughed once again and replied,

"Do you know how to write lyrics?"

"You're asking a famous three lights member if he knows how to write lyrics….?" Seiya asked sarcastically. He sighed and continued when Michiru didn't say anything, "Let me guess, you finished the melody first didn't you?"

"Hai." Michiru replied sheepishly.

Seiya laughed after recognizing the sheepish tone

"That's fine Michiru. It doesn't matter whether the melody or the lyrics comes first, as long as they fit one another then you'll be just fine. So come on, let's hear it."

Michiru placed the phone on speaker mode and moved to the piano,

"Can you hear me?"

"Hai."

"Okay here goes."

Michiru played the melody she created just a while ago and as she did Seiya started thinking words that would fit the music. When the song finished, Michiru returned to the desk,

"So..?"

"You really are a musician but I really didn't think you could create a melody that doesn't sound too much like classical music." Seiya replied followed by a stifled laugh.

"Urusai!" Michiru exclaimed as a light blush appeared on her cheek.

"Just kidding. Let's see……."

Seiya started dictating words to Michiru with the latter pitching in with her own ideas. It was already past midnight but they were finishing the song faster than they both expected.

In another room in the manor, Haruka rolled to his side to hug Michiru only to be greeted by an empty bed space. He quickly sat up and looked around in the dark. Nothing. Haruka then slipped into his navy blue velvet robe and walked out of the room. He decided to go to the kitchen thinking that Michiru might have wanted to get something to eat. Before he could get there he saw light coming from the bottom of the study's door. He stopped and stared at the light.

'I wonder what's keeping Michiru this time?' the golden brown haired bishounen thought to himself.

He gently tapped on the door but no one answered. He tapped again but still no answer. He twisted the knob and peeked inside the room. There he saw Michiru sitting on the desk, filled with papers, furiously scribbling words away. Around her the floor was littered with crumpled paper and torn out pages of a music notebook. Haruka noticed that the phone was on speaker and just as he was about to ask Michiru what was going on, a familiar voice suddenly said,

"How about like this…_I was born to tell you 'I love you,' isn't that a song already? I get a B in originality._"

"That's a good start for the second stanza. You're great at this Seiya!" Michiru praised.

"Nah, the chorus is the best part and that came from you, it was awesome. It hit the spot right on!"

"Seiya?? What the hell are you doing talking to Michiru at this hour of the night?!" Haruka suddenly exclaimed after finally realizing who the voice belongs to.

"Uhh..let's finish this tomorrow. Oyasuminasai Michiru-chan. (Goodnight Michiru.)" Seiya stuttered nervously.

"Let's. Oyasumi.(Goodnight.)" Michiru replied as she pressed the off button.

Haruka stomped towards Michiru while the other merely rotated her chair to face Haruka.

"What was that all about huh Michiru?"

"Nothing."

"It didn't sound nothing. What was it about?"

"Seiya and I are working on a song. It's for their next concert."

Haruka tried to take a glimpse of the paper Michiru was writing on when the green haired Neptune princess quickly covered it with a thick heavy book.

"Ah, ah, ah…not until the concert."

"Why are you working with them anyway? You used to hate them too."

"That's it, 'used to,' means that it's all in the past. Besides it's just something that we randomly came up with this morning."

"This morning?" Haruka asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, right before you called."

Haruka stared at Michiru in the eye and the other stared at him innocently. Haruka just heaved out a heavy sigh and said,

"Let's just go to bed now, please?"

"Okay, let me just fix things here."

"Okay."

Before Haruka left the study room he turned to Michiru,

"I love you."

"I know." Michiru replied composedly while gathering the papers around her, her back still facing Haruka. Haruka looked at Michiru who was still arranging the pens and papers one last time before leaving.

As soon as Michiru heard the door close tears started falling form her eyes, soaking the paper and smearing the words written in ink.

_Tsuzuku…_


	20. Chapter 20

Of love and Fate

souna no miko

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all original characters mentioned in this story is owned by the great Takeuchi Naoko. There is no way I would claim them as my own. The song/s that will be used as part of the story are not mine either, they are owned by their respective writers and singers. The song 'Vulnerable' was written, sung and owned by Secondhand Serenade and its recording outfit.

**Chapter 20**

**Vulnerable**

"Ohayou Michiru." Haruka greeted as he sat up sleepily from their bed. When no one replied, Haruka glanced on the space beside him only to find it smooth and empty.

'Where the hell is she this time?'

After changing from his pajamas Haruka walks down the stairs hoping to find Michiru in the kitchen happily preparing his breakfast but when he got there he just saw Setsuna drinking her morning coffee and Haruko slumped over the counter, snoring lightly.

"Goodmorning Haruka." Setsuna greeted.

"G'morning." Haruka replied as he eyed the sleeping figure of Haruko.

Haruka proceeded to go to the coffee maker to get his morning dose of caffeine and as he did he turned to Setsuna and asked,

"Ne Okasan-eko, Michiru-mama doko wa?"

Setsuna raised an eyebrow and replied,

"She didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"Hmm….I wonder what she's up to." Setsuna thought out loud.

"Why, where did she go?"

Setsuna's gaze returned to Haruka before she answered,

"She went to the studio with Seiya this morning; he picked her up at 6:30am."

Haruka's eyes grew big as he shouted,

"WHAT?! WHY?!"

Haruko was awaken from her slumber and fell from the chair.

"Itai itai itai!!!!" Haruko screamed as she nursed her sore behind.

"What were you screaming about Haruka??" Haruko asked as she tried to sit back on the chair.

"Do you know anything about his Haruko?!" Haruka demanded.

"Know anything about what?"

"Don't you play innocent with me Haruko. What's Seiya up to with Michi?

"Shira nai! (I don't know!)"

"Haruko I'm warning you…"

"I said I don't know. Why is it always my fault these past few days?! Why is it never YOUR fault even if everybody knows it is?!"

Haruko's hand quickly flew to her mouth as Haruka and Setsuna's eyes grew big in shock.

"G-gomen." Haruko said as she looked away from her brother.

Haruka placed his cup on the counter, grabbed his car keys and left the house.

"We could never be the same as before could we Setsuna-chan?"

"As long as he knows you're Persephone and you know he is Alexis I think you'd never be able to go back to the way things are between the both of you but I'm sure he's trying to adjust. It's just that, Haruka never likes being vulnerable to other people, except Michiru that is."

"Yeah, he only let his self free when he's with Michiru."

Haruko looked outside the window and watched as her brother drove out of the garage.

"Michiru!" Haruka blared through the receiver.

"What?"

"Don't put the phone down on me again. Now where the hell are you?"

"I'm with Seiya."

"Yeah I got that from Okasan-neko(1), but why?"

"I told you, we're finishing a song for their concert."

"Where are you?"

"At the studio."

"I'm staring at the Music Repertoire studio right now and I don't see you here or that guy, where are you?"

"What are you being so worried about? I'm with Seiya and I'll be safe with him. We're in another studio."

"Where?"

"I gotta go Haruka see you later at home, ja ne."

"Chotto Matte yo Michiru! (Wait a minute Michiru!) Don't you dare put the pho—"

Michiru let out a sigh of relief after pressing the end button.

"I think you should turn that off for a while if you don't want him bothering you like that. That's the third time he called today and the third time you did that to him." Seiya suggested.

"He'd go crazy if he won't be able to contact me." Michiru replied as she rubbed her fingers through the bridge of her nose.

"I'm surprised he's still not tearing the whole city down looking for you, not that I would be if he actually did that. Man, Haruka is one scary dude." Seiya said as he handed a can of orange juice to Michiru which she accepted.

"You should've known him back in the Silver Crystal Millenium."

"Hmm…"

"What?"

"Now that I think about it I haven't really gotten to know Alexis that much, none of us actually did."

"Well that's because he never spoke to anyone before, except after his memories of Persephone were erased."

"Well I'm sure he was a doll."

"Not actually. After his memories of Persephone were erased he became even more annoying. He became colder towards people and more hot headed than ever. He also became strictly by the book ever since. It's like a part of him was missing, a human part of him."

"But when we met him in this time, now that I remember of course, he seems to be like the Alexis we know, tough and a bit by the book but not lacking what you call 'the human part'." Seiya commented.

"That's because he was with me. We both lost our memories of Persephone and we both fell in love with each other. But you know what? Now that I think about it even when we were already together something was missing from him but I couldn't put my finger on it, now I know what was missing."

"And what is it?"

"The feeling of first true love."

"Sou ka." Seiya replied as he took a sip from his can of juice.

Michiru looked at Seiya who was staring at god knows what and smiled,

"You know I kind of felt the same way."

Seiya turned to face Michiru with a confused look on his face,

"Huh?"

Michiru stared at her can of juice while toying with its rim with her index finger.

"Now that I remember everything about Persephone I realized that there was something missing from me too, even though I'm almost always with him who is suppose to be the love of my life."

"I see." Seiya replied absentmindedly as he stared at his own can.

"Seiya do you remem—…"

Seiya quickly stood up, cleaned the dirt off of his pants and said,

"We should get going. I don't think Haruka's gonna let you off his sight after this day so we really should finish arranging and recording the song today. Saa Ikimasshou"

"Wakatta(3).(I understand.)" Michiru sighed as she watched the back of Seiya retreat into the mixing room.

It was already 2pm when Haruka returned. When he came in Haruko was sitting on the sofa reading a book.

"Okairinasai" Haruko greeted.

Haruka didn't try to look at Haruko but he could feel the weight of her waiting gaze,

"Tadaima" Haruka mumbled soflty.

"Have you eaten your lu—"

"I'll be in my room resting."

"Oh okay but would you like to have some foo—"

"No."

Haruka went straight to his room and after locking the door he let out a heavy sigh. Imagine his surprise when he turned around and saw a tray of food set on top of his table. Beside it was a note which he picked up and read,

_Oniichan,_

_It's already past 12 noon, I hope you already had your lunch. If _

_not then you can have this…if you want to eat it that is. It's not much but I cooked a lot so I figured you might want some. If you don't want it then leave it outside your door, I'll pick it up as soon as I hear your door shut. Oniichan, I was foolish to even think that you and Alexis are still one and the same, of course you're my brother now and that will never change. The Persephone in me could bear to lose Alexis but I as Haruko could never bear to lose you Oniichan. I miss you Ruka._

_ Haru_

Pain shot through Haruka's heart as he read through the phrases "you're my brother" and "The Persephone in me could bear to lose Alexis."

Haruka sat on top of the bed with Haruko's note in his hand. He couldn't recognize much less comprehend the feeling he's feeling right now. He didn't know if he was mad, relieved or in pain. He didn't even know what he wanted to do. It feels like he wanted to break something, Yaten's face for instance, but most of all he had the urge to just cry. Haruka just sat there quietly clutching his chest with his right hand and the note with the other.

Two weeks have passed and Michiru kept on leaving before Haruka wakes up. Everyday Haruka went nuts looking for Michiru and everyday Haruka evaded Haruko even more.

On the day before the Three Lights' concert Michiru came home at around 5:30pm and she asked Haruka if they could go for a ride down at the beach. Glad that Michiru seems to be talking to him again Haruka was nothing else but happy to oblige.

"I'm glad you decided to go out with me tonight I was getting worried that Seiya's gonna take you away me." Haruka said as they both walked by the shore.

"Are you really afraid that he'll take me away?"

"Of course! I mean, you talked to him during the wee hours of the night about god-knows-what and you've been with him everyday for the past two weeks in god-knows-where! If you're doing this to make me jealous well then you've succeeded."

Michiru abruptly stopped walking making Haruka stop two steps ahead of her.

"Doushita no Michi? (What's the matter Michi?)"

Michiru simply stared at the setting sun as the ocean breeze blew towards them making her hair and dress flutter.

"Michi?"

Michiru smiled as she tried to clear her face of her hair with her hand.

"Yamero Haruka. Yamero kudesai.(Stop it Haruka. Please stop it.)"

"Nani yo yamero? (Stop what?)"

Michiru looks at Haruka seriously and replies,

"Stop projecting your fear of losing Haruko to me. We both know we've lost each other the day we both remembered the existence of Persephone."

"I'm not projecting Michiru."

"Yes you are. I heard you the other night, you asked Draco not to take her away from you and here you are now telling me that you don't want Seiya to take me away from you. That's projecting Haruka, remember?"

Haruka was not able to answer. Michiru held Haruka's face with her free hand and rubbed her thumb on his cheek,

"I'm glad that you chose me, that you _loved_ me but I know you know who your heart truly loves and desires now that it remembers her. Don't be foolish enough to let her go or else you'll regret losing her again."

"Michiru what are you saying? She's—"

"…your sister. I know. _Everybody_ knows because you have never let anybody forget about it. You always bring it up whenever you're being cornered to say the truth about what you feel. Haruka, it's okay to look and feel vulnerable at times, it only goes to show how human you really are. Stop projecting, stop pretending, stop lying and stop running away from the truth. Be vulnerable Haruka and let her know what you truly feel. You may not be fit for each other in this lifetime but at least if you could fix whatever it is between the two of you then you'd be able to pick up from where you last left off in your next life."

Haruka stared at Michiru long and hard before asking,

"Are you…are you breaking up with me?"

Michiru released Haruka's face and turned to the sea.

"Why, are you going to go emo on me?" Michiru replied with a giggle. She looked at Haruka again and said,

"Haruka I know you know who my heart truly loves and desires now that it remembers him. I want to be with him Haruka. I want to be happy with him and I know that he's hesitating to take me back because you still own me. Free me Haruka as I am freeing you right now."

Michiru approached Haruka and hugged him.

"I loved you my beautiful prince. You'll always have a space in my heart."

Finally, Michiru kisses him for the last time before leaving.

The next day everyone met outside the stadium where the Three Lights' concert is going to take place.

"Hi, Thanks for coming. My brother didn't stop annoying me until I promised that I'd make sure you'd all be here." Calliope said once everybody was gathered.

"How could we not come? Seiya practically begged us to come." Makoto replied with a laugh.

Calliope looked at Haruka who was looking bored and uninterested. He didn't want to be there but Michiru asked him to come to the concert and he couldn't say no.

"Wait, where's Michiru?" Usagi asked.

Haruka's eyes suddenly grew big, he looked away form Usagi's inquisitive eyes and replied with a shrug."

Calliope watched Haruka's every action and deduced what had happened so she answered on his behalf,

"She's backstage. She has a number with the Three Lights. She's been working on a song with Seiya these past few days."

"Ah souka."

"So shall we?" Calliope asked.

"Alright, let's go!" Minako exclaimed excitedly.

They all entered the stadium and went to the front row beyond the fence and the security, they're friends so of course they get VIP treatment.

Once the lights opened the fans began to scream, imagine the noise they made when Seiya, Taiki and Draco finally appeared on stage. After five songs the Three Lights left the stage and for a brief moment everything was dark. A spotlight appeared at the center of the stage revealing a chair and a mic stand. Seiya appeared at the side of the stage and walked towards it holding an acoustic guitar. He sat on the chair before greeting his many fans.

"Ogenki desu ka minna-san? (How are you everyone?)"

"Genki desu! (We're fine!)" the fans roared.

"Tonight I have a very special guest. She was with us last year during one of our concerts. She is a gifted musician and she created the melody of the new song you are about to hear and we both made the lyrics, it was a collaboration between two unlikely people. Everyone, give it up for Miss Kaioh Michiru!"

Michiru came out from the side of the stage as a spotlight followed her to the center. She was wearing a light teal colored dress with white accents and held a microphone in one hand.

"Konbanwa minna-san! (Goodevening everyone!)" Michiru greeted.

"We hope that you would like this song because it means so much to us." Seiya started.

"It is a song meant for two of our dearest friends. After finishing the song both Seiya and I thought that it's something that they could sing to each other."

"They _should _sing to each other." Seiya corrected.

Michiru looked at Seiya and laughed,

"Yes indeed. Both are hard-headed people and the lyrics we created are meant for them and they should sing it to each other."

"So without further ado, we bring you a Kaioh-Seiya song, Vulnerable." Seiya said as he looked at Haruko.

"We hope you'd listen to the lyrics and understand it." Michiru added as she stared into Haruka's eyes.

Seiya began to strum the strings of the guitar and as the melody of the song filled the stadium he began to sing the first stanza with Michiru singing the second voice.

_Share with me the blankets that you're wrapped in_

_Because it's old outside,__ (It's cold outside)__ it's cold outside_

_Share with me the secrets that you kept in_

_Because it's cold inside, __(It's cold inside)__ it's cold inside_

_Your slow shaking fingertips show_

_That you're scared like me so_

_Let's pretend we're alone_

_And I know you may be scared_

_And I know we're unprepared_

_But I don't care_

While singing the stanza both Michiru and Seiya kept their eyes locked with each other or with the crowd but as soon as Michiru began singing the chorus of the song they both shifted their gaze to Haruka and Haruko respectively to try and give them their message.

_Tell me, tell me what makes you think that you are invincible_

_I can see it in your eyes that you're so sure_

_Please don't tell me that I'm the only one that's vulnerable_

_Impossible_

It was planned that as Michiru would continue singing through the second stanza she would continue looking at Haruka but Michiru quickly looked at Seiya as she sang,

_I was born to tell you I love you_

_Isn't that a song already? __(isn't that a song already?)_

_I get a 'B' in originality_

_And it's true I can't go on without you_

_Your smile makes me see clearer __(your smile makes me see clearer)_

_If you can only see in the mirror __(what I see)_

Seiya broke their captive gaze and continued their duet prompting Michiru to look at Haruka again as planned.

_And your slow shaking fingertips show_

_That you're scared like me so_

_Let's pretend we're alone_

_And I know you may be scared_

_And I know we're unprepared_

_But I don't care_

_Tell me, tell me what makes you think that you are invincible_

_I can see it in your eyes that you're so sure_

_Please don't tell me that I'm the only one that's vulnerable_

_Impossible_

Haruka immediately got the message of the song and made a mental note to kill Seiya and hurt Michiru for making such a song. He tried to escape Michiru's gaze but ends up looking at Haruko's direction. He quickly turned to his other side and kept his eyes locked in that direction.

_Slow down girl you're not going anywhere_

_Just wait around and see_

_Maybe I'm much more_

_You never know what lies ahead_

_I promise I can be anyone,_

_I can be anything_

_Just because you were hurt doesn't mean you shouldn't bleed_

_I can be anyone, anything_

_I promise I can be what you need_

_(I can be what you need)_

Like Haruka, Haruko quickly caught on. She wanted to throw a shoe at Seiya but decided against it. She realized they were just trying to help her. She took a chance looking at Haruka but saw that he was looking away from her and from the stage. She caught a glimpse of his trembling fist and realized that he was getting mad.

'He's hopeless…he'll never let his guard down.' Haruko thought to herself.

_Tell me, tell me what makes you think that you are invincible_

_(you're lying in the outside)_

_(I can be what you need)_

_I can see in your eyes that you're so sure_

_(Don't tell me that I'm the only one)_

_please don't tell me that I'm the only one that's vulnerable_

_impossible_

Michiru and Seiya looked at each other as the crowd goes wild. Michiru bows to Seiya in gratitude and then proceeds to bow at the audience as well.

After the concert Draco stood by his car as he waited for Seiya. When Seiya finally came out with Michiru by his side Draco punched him which caused the other idol to fall on the ground.

"How could you do that Seiya?! How could you betray me like that?!"

Seiya spat out the blood in his mouth and replied,

"I'm just trying to help them out, both of them. Since when have you become so selfish Draco?!"

"Selfish?! I'm not selfish, I'm protecting her!"

"Well I'm protecting her too you dumb ass!"

Draco laughed and said,

"Protecting her? By doing that you're causing her pain, how is that protecting her??"

"What if it doesn't? What if it works Draco? What if Haruka finally comes to his senses and fix whatever rift he and Haruko has? What if it saves her from pain? Will you still react this way or will you stop it? Persephone never loved you the way you wanted her to and Haruko's the same. Don't blame us for trying." Michiru said after helping Seiya up.

"They may not be allowed to be together in this lifetime but who knows? Maybe it was fate that brought them together as siblings so they'll be able to mend whatever was broken in the past, to settle what was not settled so that in their next life they'll be allowed to be together without any other problems? Haven't you thought of that Draco? Haven't you thought of the possibility that Persephone would finally find happiness in her third life after going through this one? Think about it Draco." Michiru added.

Draco didn't know what to say. He didn't want to accept everything that Michiru had just said. He didn't want to lose Persephone to Alexis again.

Draco started the engine of his car and drove off into the night not stopping for anything.

_Tsuzuku_...


End file.
